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Pulmonary Balloon Angioplasty (BPA) is a therapeutic option for Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) and is favored in patients with peripheral disease or those who are not candidates for surgery. Little is known about the temporal trends in biomarkers and quality of life (QOL) after serial BPA sessions. This is a prospective observational study of CTEPH patients who underwent BPA at a single healthcare center from 2022 to 2023. QOL was assessed at baseline, at each procedure, and at the 2-3 month clinic follow up visit using the PEmb-QoL questionnaire. Blood biomarkers were collected before each angioplasty session and at follow up 2-3 months after final BPA. 38 BPA sessions were performed in 12 patients (mean age 65 years, 75% female). From baseline until final follow up, brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels decreased by 37%, high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI) levels decreased by 66%, and D-dimer decreased by 39%. All QOL scores also improved during this time (Table 1). Patients with CTEPH experience significant improvement in QOL and a decrease in their biomarker levels after BPA. Larger studies are needed to assess the correlation of these two parameters and its prognostic significance.
Hassan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.