Pulmonary thromboendarterectomy after treatment with treprostenil in a chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension patient: a case report

Abstract

Konstantinos Porpodis1, Maria Konoglou2, Paul Zarogoulidis1, Evangelos Kaimakamis2, Theodoros Kontakiotis1, Despoina Papakosta1, Vasilis Zervas1, Nikolaos Katsikogiannis3, Nikolaos Courcoutsakis4, Alexandros Mitrakas5, Panagiotis Touzopoulos5, Michael Karanikas5, Konstantinos Zarogoulidis1, Aikaterini Markopoulou2 1Pulmonary Department, "G Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; 2First Pulmonary Clinic, "G Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece; 3Surgery Department (NHS), University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Greece; 4Radiology Department, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece; 5First University Surgery Department, University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece Abstract: In recent years, there has been a major advance in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. New medications are continually added to the therapeutic arsenal. The prostanoids are among the first agents used to treat pulmonary hypertension and are currently considered the most effective. This case study describes a 63-year-old man who was diagnosed with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and successfully treated with subcutaneously administered treprostenil for 6 months before a successful pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. Treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension often requires a multidisciplinary approach before surgery. Further evaluation of prostanoids is needed to define their role and time of initiation of medical therapy in these patients. Keywords: chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, prostanoids, treprostenil sodium, pulmonary thromboendarterectomy