The surgery gave these people a big oxygen boost. Cooper isn't surprised that breathing capacity declined slightly during the second year. We're just resetting their clocks. He notes that patients would have deteriorated without the surgery. Even if surgery patients are back at square one after two years, they are presumably better off than they would have been if they had not had the operation.
Cooper insists that patients meet strict requirements to be eligible for the surgery.
The disease must be localized to distinct patches in the lung, patients must be able to exercise moderately, and they must quit smoking. Only about 20 percent of patients with end-stage emphysema meet these requirements. So far, over 200 patients have had the surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Half of the patients in the seven-year study, run by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the U.S. Healthcare Finance Administration, will receive surgery while the other half will receive standard medical therapy. Cooper thinks the surgery has already proven its value.