• Suqiao Yang, Yuanhua Yang, Zhenguo Zhai, Tuguang Kuang, Juanni Gong, Shuai Zhang, Jianguo Zhu, Lirong Liang, Ying H Shen, and Chen Wang.
• 1 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100020, China ; 2 Beijing Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing 100020, China ; 3 Beijing Key Laboratory of Respiratory and Pulmonary Circulation Disorders, Beijing 100020, China ; 4 Center of Respiratory Medicine, Beijing Hospital, Ministry of Health, Beijing 100730, China ; 5 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA ; 6 Department of Respiratory Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China ; 7 China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China.
• J Thorac Dis. 2015 Nov 1; 7 (11): 1927-38.

BackgroundEarly identification and treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) are critical to prevent disease progression. We determined the incidence and risk factors for CTEPH in patients with a first episode of acute pulmonary embolism (PE).MethodsIn this study, consecutive patients with first-episode acute PE were followed for ≤5 years. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) was screened for by echocardiography. Suspected cases were evaluated by right heart catheterization (RHC) and pulmonary angiography (PA). If invasive procedures were not permitted, PH was diagnosed by systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) >50 mmHg. Diagnosis of CTEPH was confirmed by PA, ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scan, or computed tomography (CT) PA (CTPA).ResultsOverall, 614 patients with acute PE were included (median follow-up, 3.3 years). Ten patients were diagnosed with CTEPH: cumulative incidence 0.8% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.0-1.6%] at 1 year, 1.3% (95% CI, 0.3-2.3%) at 2 years, and 1.7% (95% CI, 0.7-2.7%) at 3 years. No cases of CTEPH developed after 3 years. History of lower-limb varicose veins [hazard ratio (HR), 4.3; 95% CI, 1.2-15.4; P=0.024], SPAP >50 mmHg at initial PE episode (HR, 23.5; 95% CI, 2.7-207.6; P=0.005), intermediate-risk PE (HR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0-1.4; P=0.030), and CT obstruction index over 30% at 3 months after acute PE (HR, 42.5; 95% CI, 4.4-409.8; P=0.001) were associated with increased risk of CTEPH.ConclusionsCTEPH was not rare after acute PE in this Chinese population, especially within 3 years of diagnosis. Lower-limb varicose veins, intermediate-risk PE with elevated SPAP in the acute phase, and residual emboli during follow-up might increase the risk of CTEPH.

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