ABSTRACT
Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) is, in many ways, an evolutionary step with its origins in classic surgical bullectomy. Surgical procedures for giant bullae and their complications were developed decades ago and used since the 1940s. These procedures have withstood the test of time much better than many other early procedures attempted for treatment of emphysema, such as thoracoplasties, glomectomies and sympathectomies (1,2). This likely reflects their more sound physiological basis, which is essentially the same basis as for LVRS.
