• Zheng-Wei Chen, Cho-Kai Wu, Ping-Hung Kuo, Hsao-Hsun Hsu, Cheng-Hsuan Tsai, Chien-Ting Pan, Juey-Jen Hwang, Chi-Lun Ko, Yu-Sen Huang, Takeshi Ogo, and Yen-Hung Lin.
• Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Yun-Lin Branch, Yun-Lin, Taiwan.
• J Formos Med Assoc. 2021 Mar 1; 120 (3): 947-955.

BackgroundData on the efficacy and safety of balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) in Taiwanese patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) are lacking. In this study, we evaluated the effects of BPA on clinical parameters including hemodynamics, echocardiography and functional status in patients with inoperable CTEPH in Taiwan.MethodsWe retrospectively collected the clinical data of inoperable CTEPH patients who underwent ≥3 BPA sessions. Pulmonary hemodynamic parameters of right heart catheterization, echocardiography, 6-min walk distance and World Health Organization (WHO) functional class were collected and analyzed before and after BPA treatment.ResultsA total of 59 BPA sessions were performed in 13 inoperable CTEPH patients. No periprocedural deaths or major complications requiring tracheal intubation with mechanical ventilation occurred. WHO functional class significantly improved in all 13 patients (P < 0.001), and 6-min walk distance improved from 344 ± 147 to 450 ± 120 m (P = 0.014). Additionally, the plasma level of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide significantly decreased (P = 0.007). Hemodynamic data were available in 11 patients after ≥3 BPA sessions. Both mean pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance significantly decreased from 44.6 ± 11.7 mmHg to 32.6 ± 5.1 mmHg (P = 0.005) and 745 ± 389 dyn·s·cm-5 to 366 ± 120 dyn·s·cm-5 (P = 0.002), respectively. Cardiac output also increased from 3.69 ± 1.12 L/min to 4.33 ± 0.94 L/min (P = 0.021).ConclusionBPA improved both clinical symptoms and hemodynamic data in inoperable CTEPH Taiwanese patients without major periprocedural complications.Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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