Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy is a curative resolution for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension associated with antiphospholipid syndrome: a retrospective cohort study

Background Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a rare and life-threatening condition with poor prognosis in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) is the optimal surgical option for CTEPH. Objectives This retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and risk of PTE in patients with APS-associated CTEPH. Methods Consecutive patients with APS-associated CTEPH diagnosed between January 2012 and September 2017 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively evaluated. Demographics, clinical manifestations, antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) profiles, and pulmonary arterial hypertension-targeted medications were collected. Deterioration of cardiac function and death were chosen as the endpoints, in order to assess the effect of PTE on short-term and long-term prognoses (evaluated by the change of cardiac function after treatment and cardiac deterioration or death in the follow-up, respectively). Results A total of 20 patients with APS-associated CTEPH were enrolled, and eight patients underwent PTE. Chi-square test (p = 0.01) and Kaplan-Meier curves (log rank test, p = 0.04) showed that there were statistically significant differences in both short-term and long-term prognoses between patients with and without PTE. Conclusion These results provide strong evidence that PTE is a curative resolution in patients with APS-associated CTEPH. Following a full specialized and multidisciplinary risk-benefit evaluation to limit the risk of thrombosis or bleeding and to manage possible thrombocytopenia, PTE is at least a temporal curative resolution for CTEPH complicated with APS.