In addition to testing the safety of one-way endobronchial valves combined with bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells, the study will determine the systemic inflammatory potential of cell therapy measured by C-reactive protein levels (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and complete blood count in peripheral blood. Finally, the study will aim at determining if other markers of inflammatory response and remodeling are modulated by this therapy.
The combined use of one-way endobronchial valves and bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stromal cells in patients with severe pulmonary emphysema is safe and will contribute to increase quality of life.