Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension in Females: Clinical Features and Survival

Sparse data are available on the female-specific features of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). We prospectively enrolled 160 consecutive female patients who were firstly diagnosed with CTEPH between 2013 and 2019 to explore their clinical phenotypes, treatment patterns, and long-term survival. The patients' mean age was 54.7 ± 13.8 years, 70.6% provided a confirmed history of venous thromboembolism, 46 (28.8%) patients underwent pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA), 65 (40.6%) received balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), and 49 (30.6%) were treated with medical therapy alone. The patients were followed for a median of 51 (34-70) months; three patients were lost to follow-up, and twenty-two patients died. The estimated survival rates at 1, 3, 5, and 7 years were 98.1% (95% CI 96.0-100), 96.9% (95% CI 94.2-99.6), 85.1% (95% CI 78.1-92.2), and 76.2% (95% CI 65.2-87.2), respectively. After adjusting for the confounders, the results of the multivariate Cox analysis showed that the presence of anemia (5.56, 95% CI 1.6-19.22) was associated with an increased risk of all-cause death, and compared with medical treatment, receiving PEA and BPA decreased the risk of death by 74% (0.26, 95% CI 0.07-0.97) and 86% (0.14, 95% CI 0.04-0.57), respectively. In conclusion, in the modern era of CTEPH treatment, invasive revascularization combined with targeted therapy display good clinical outcomes for females; anemia should be actively modified, which may lead to clinical improvements. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05360992).