Residual pulmonary hypertension after retrograde pulmonary embolectomy: long-term follow-up of 30 patients with massive and submassive pulmonary embolism

摘要

OBJECTIVESPulmonary hypertension is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients following acute pulmonary embolism. Although thrombolytic therapy decreases pulmonary arterial pressure, compared with anticoagulation alone, it has the propensity for haemorrhagic complications, distal embolization and incomplete recanalization, with the potential risk of late pulmonary hypertension. Surgical embolectomy—once performed solely on critically-ill patients—has now gained favour in a wider range of patients. In this paper we present the outcomes of patients who underwent surgical embolectomy complemented with retrograde technique and follow-up systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (SPAP).