Balloon pulmonary angioplasty: an additional treatment option to improve the prognosis of patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

Abstract

AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) in patients with non-operable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) using the results of pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) for operable patients as a reference, and annotate the role of BPA in the management of CTEPH. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data from 53 CTEPH patients were collected retrospectively. Twenty-four operable patients underwent PEA, and 29 non-operable patients underwent BPA. Patients who underwent BPA showed improved mean pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance, and cardiac output (39.4±6.9 to 21.3±5.6 mmHg, 763±308 to 284±128 dyn·s-1·cm-5, 3.47±0.80 to 4.26±1.15 L/min, respectively); patients who received PEA showed similar efficacy (44.4±11.0 to 21.6±6.7 mmHg, 781±278 to 258±125 dyn·s-1·cm-5, 3.35±1.11 to 4.44±1.58 L/min, respectively). The mortality rates of BPA and PEA patients were 3.4% and 8.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The efficacy and safety of BPA for non-operable cases were similar to those achieved using PEA for operable cases. BPA could be an additional treatment option for non-operable CTEPH patients, and most CTEPH patients can be satisfactorily treated by BPA or PEA.