Advanced lung emphysema has a considerable impact on quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There are positive reports of surgical as well as bronchoscopic volume reduction in selected patients, but data comparing LVRS and BLVR is unfortunately lacking to date. The investigators therefore anticipate that their study will make an important contribution to the worldwide efforts in better understanding selection and management of surgical and bronchoscopic treatment of emphysema patients and that it will be of high public interest.
The investigators plan to perform a randomized controlled trial that compares bilateral lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) with bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) using endobronchial valves in terms of efficacy and patient safety.