Clinical and functional status and postoperative complications in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in the age aspect

Aim. To study the clinical and functional status and the early postoperative follow-up in elderly patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Material and methods. Patients with CTEPH were divided into two groups: group 1 (35 people) – patients ≥65 years old, group 2 (98 people) – <65 years old. The baseline clinical and functional data of both groups and the in-hospital period after pulmonary endarterectomy, were analysed. Results. Patients with CTEPH ≥65 years old compared with patients <65 years old were characterized by a higher comorbidity, a higher incidence of adverse cardiovascular events and the presence of chronic heart failure IV class (p<0.05). Echo-CG data in patients with CTEPH ≥65 years old were characterized by a large size of the left atrium, more pronounced hypertrophy of the right ventricle free wall, interventricular septum and the left ventricular posterior wall compared with younger patients (p<0.05). Also, in patients ≥65 years old, lower values of the left ventricular ejection fraction were found with preservation of global myocardial contractility (p<0.05). The early postoperative period in patients with CTEPH ≥65 years is characterized by a more severe course compared to the group of patients <65 years due to a larger proportion of patients with the development of newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation, multiple organ failure and postoperative bleeding (p<0.05). Despite this, there were no intergroup differences in the length of the hospital period and in-hospital mortality (p>0.05). Conclusion. The early postoperative results of pulmonary endarterectomy in elderly patients with CTEPH showed no differences in the length of hospital stay and in-hospital mortality compared with younger patients, which indicates the feasibility of surgical treatment of this category of patients in the specialized cardiac surgical centers.