Endoscopic lung volume reduction with endobronchial valves in very low DLCO patients

Introduction: Lung emphysema occurs with high prevalences and it is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Previous studies have shown good clinical outcomes after endoscopic lung reduction with endobronchial valves. However, these studies included only few patients with a diffusing capacity (DLCO) below 20%. Therefore, we compared outcomes in relation to DLCO of patients treated with valves. Methods: All data were extracted from the Lung Emphysema Registry, which is a multicentre non-ranomized prospective clinical study consisting of emphysema centres in Germany since 2017. The lung function (FEV1, RV, VC, DLCO), quality of life (CAT and mMRC) and exercise capacity (6MWT) were documented at baseline and 3-months follow-up (3mo FU) after treatment. Only patients with endobronchial valves and 3mo FU documented DLCO at baseline and were included. Results: 34 patients with DLCO<20% and 87 patients with DLCO >20% were included. There was a predominance of male gender in the DLCO >20% group (62.8%) compared to the DLCO<20% group (41.2%, p=0.031). Table 1 demonstrates differences between the DLCO groups at baseline and 3 -months follow-up. Conclusions: 3months after endoscopic procedure, there is a significant improvement in clinical outcome. Our data indicate for the first time that the degrees of treatment response after endoscopic lung volume reduction with valves might be beneficial for patients with low DLCO.