Tracheobronchial Obstructions: Bronchial Collapse & Stenting

UltraVet Medical Devices is currently hard at work developing a new innovative bifurcating bronchial stent.  The Bifurcated Bronchial Stent is designed to treat patients with severe airway disease who would not benefit from a standard straight stent.  The bifurcated design addresses collapse of the left stem bronchus as well as LB1 and LB2, thus providing superior treatment over a straight stent for complicated cases.

Causes of Bronchial Collapse

Causes of Bronchial collapse in dogs include Chronic bronchitis, Neoplasia, Heart disease, Chondromalacia or Strictures.  Collapse can occur in a discrete location, or multi-focal, and may be an extension of tracheal collapse.

Symptoms and Typical Treatment

Symptoms of bronchial collapse include: Coughing, Dyspnea, Tachypnea, Expiratory push, Wheezing, Syncope and Cyanosis.  Treatment for most cases of bronchial collapse consist of a combination of medical therapy including cough suppressants, antibiotics, bronchodilators, anti-inflammatory medications (e.g. corticosteroids), and sedatives.

When is Stenting Appropriate?

Bronchial stenting is appropriate in cases where medical therapy cannot adequately control clinical symptoms. The best candidates for stenting should have discrete collapse in one or two bronchi with normal appearing airways throughout the rest of the bronchial tree.  Careful case selection is very important to assure a positive outcome--patients with chronic bronchitis and multifocal collapse or diffuse chondromalacia are not good candidates for the procedure.

Medical Workup and Assessment

Diagnosis of bronchial collapse is made via bronchoscopy.  In addition, samples can be taken for cytology and culture and biopsies taken if nodules are present.  The initial workup for bronchial stenting includes:

• Chest radiographs

• Echocardiogram

• CBC

• Chemistry profile

• Heartworm & lungworm testing

Top Left is an image of our bifurcating bronchial stent prototype.  Development on this device continues.

Click the video to see the stent at work.

The next photo shows a cadaver broncus with BBS.

The bottom photo shows our Straight Stent that is available for sale.  TO BUY CLICK HERE

If you have a patient that you think may benefit from a bifurcated bronchial stent, please CLICK HERE or call us at 631-285-7343 for a review of your case and potential purchase.