Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is the gold standard for treating chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) in Western countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term outcomes of performing PEA on CTEPH patients in comparison with medical therapy at a single Korean center.This retrospective study included 88 CTEPH patients. These patients were classified into the PEA group (n = 37) or non-PEA group (i.e., medical therapy; n = 51). The clinical characteristics, hemodynamic data, and long-term survival rates were compared. Independent prognostic factors for CTEPH were also investigated.CTEPH was not associated with either gender, and the mean age at diagnosis was 53.3 ± 13.7 years. Echocardiography revealed that the mean peak velocity of the tricuspid regurgitation jet was 4.2 ± 0.7 m/sec and the mean pulmonary arterial pressure was 51.7 ± 15.1 mmHg. The PEA and non-PEA groups demonstrated no significant differences, except in terms of the right ventricular end-diastolic diameter. The survival rates of the PEA group were significantly higher than the non-PEA group at 1, 3, 5, and 10 years (p = 0.032). Multivariate analyses indicated that World Health Organization class IV and PEA were significant predictors of poorer and better outcomes, respectively.PEA demonstrates more favorable effects on long-term survival than medical therapy in Korean CTEPH patients who were considered operable.

作者：Soo Han, Kim；Jae Won, Lee；Jung-Min, Ahn；Dae-Hee, Kim；Jong-Min, Song；Sang-Do, Lee；Jae Seung, Lee

来源：The Korean journal of internal medicine 2016 年