Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) is the recommended first-line treatment for patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), if they qualify for the procedure. Alternative therapies include balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) or medical therapy.
An article by Jared Kaltwasser for the American Journal of Managed Care, dated April 17, 2023, presents the results of a Swedish single center study on long-term quality of life (QOL) and functional status after PEA for CTEPH published in Pulmonary Circulation.
One of the authors of the study is Göran Rådegran, Head of the Hemodynamic Lab & PAH ward, Heart & Lung medicine, Skåne University Hospital in Lund (Sweden) and one of the co-authors of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and European Respiratory Society (ESR) 2022 Clinical Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension.
The authors of the Swedish study refer to the fact that data on very long-term QOL and functional status after PEA for CTEPH was lacking in a contemporary patient population. Therefore, they performed a descriptive cross-sectional investigation including all patients who underwent PEA for CTEPH at one center in Sweden. This study aimed to assess and describe QOL and functional status after PEA for CTEPH. The cases analysed in the study spanned 1993–2020. Patients were asked to respond to Rand 36-Item Health Surveys sent by mail, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) evaluations were conducted via telephone. The survey was administered to 66 patients, 74% if which completed the QOL survey. All 42 respondents to this study said they were able to live at home and care for their own personal needs, because of gains in functional status and quality of life (QOL).
In their conclusion, the authors said although there is a need for longitudinal studies with validated instruments, their data offer signs that PEA offers long-term benefits to the lives of people with CTEPH.
This is the link to the article in the American Journal of Managed Care