Effects of balloon pulmonary angioplasty on cardiac and pulmonary functions and complications in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

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Source: Frontiers Medicine

Original: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1689193...

Published: 2026-01-12T00:00:00Z

Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is a treatment procedure that was studied in 100 patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) between February 2023 and December 2024. Three months after the last procedure, the patients had significantly improved heart and lung function - increased exercise tolerance (6-minute walk distance), improved parameters of cardiac function (TAPSE, RVFAC) and pulmonary functions (FVC, FEV1). Pulmonary artery pressure and levels of inflammatory markers (NT-proBNP, TNF-α, IL-6) were significantly reduced, while blood gas exchange was also improved. There were 5 cases of respiratory tract bleeding, 1 case of reperfusion pulmonary edema and no other serious complications during treatment. The authors conclude that BPA can improve exercise tolerance and function in CTEPH patients with a relatively low complication rate, but emphasize the need for further validation of the results through randomized controlled trials.