Papworth hospital first to offer 'balloon' procedure for lung disease patients

A "life-changing" procedure to help treat patients with a rare form of lung disease, has been introduced at Papworth hospital in Cambridge.

The procedure, called Balloon pulmonary angioplasty, involves tiny balloons being used to inflate and compress blockages in the blood vessels of patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

CTEPH is a rare form of lung disease which sees clots block blood flow in the arteries, raising pressure in the lungs which can cause heart failure andpremature death.

The new national service means that these patients will no longer have to rely on long-term, high-cost drug therapy but will instead benefit from the balloon technique.

The procedure was piloted at the Cambridgeshire hospital three years ago.

CTEPH occurs in around 2-4% of patients who are diagnosed with blood clots on the lungs, but some people are not suitable for existing forms of surgery.

Joanna Pepke-Zaba, a consultant respiratory physician at the hospital, travelled to Japan to research the new procedure.

Dr Pepke-Zaba said: "It allows us to get to those hard-to-reach areas of the lung and offer CTEPH patients, the single biggest group of all patients with pulmonary hypertension, a much-improved quality of life."