Does percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty improve pulmonary hemodynamics and long-term prognosis in patients with distal-type chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension?
Percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty is a promising therapeutic option that improves hemodynamics and prognosis in patients with distal-type CTEPH.
BACKGROUND: Distal-type chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a fatal disease for which a new therapeutic strategy needs to be developed. We examined the effects of percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty (PTPA). METHODS AND RESULTS: We prospectively enrolled 12 patients with distal-type CTEPH. After stabilizing their condition with pulmonary vasodilators, we then performed PTPA, which markedly improved pulmonary hemodynamics and pulmonary artery structure, as confirmed by angiography and optical coherence tomography, and also significantly improved their long-term prognosis compared with 39 historical controls. CONCLUSIONS: PTPA is a promising therapeutic option for distal-type CTEPH.
Sugimura et al. (Thu,) studied this question.