CTEPH is likely more prevalent than currently recognized because the symptoms — such as shortness of breath, fatigue or discomfort — are nonspecific. Patients, including Washburn, often are originally misdiagnosed with more common conditions, such as asthma, leading to delays in appropriate treatment.
“We offer the most state-of-the-art CTEPH therapies, starting with surgery to interventional catheterization procedures, and targeted medical therapy — often combining them to provide patients with the best possible outcome,” said Kim, pulmonologist and medical director of the CTEPH program at UC San Diego Health.
For individuals who are not candidates for PTE surgery, UC San Diego Health offers balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), as well as supportive and pulmonary hypertension targeted medical therapies.
UC San Diego Health is the only health care system in the region to offer BPA. The minimally invasive technique uses x-ray imaging to guide wires and a balloon to the site of the blood clot or blockage. The balloon is then inflated to disrupt the blood clots and the blockages are pushed into the walls of the arteries. Afterwards, the balloon is deflated and removed through the same catheter.
In June 2024, UC San Diego Health completed 1,000 BPA procedures, the most in the nation.
“We are extremely proud to have achieved 1,000 BPAs, coincidentally around the same time as the 5,000th PTE milestone. Together, we provide comprehensive treatment options for our patients so they can get the help they need for their specific form of CTEPH,” said Ehtisham Mahmud, MD, Edith and William Perlman Endowed Chair in Cardiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, chief of Cardiovascular Medicine and executive director of the Cardiovascular Institute-Medicine at UC San Diego Health.
Patients receiving BPA need to undergo approximately four to six treatment sessions to remedy their CTEPH.
According to Mahmud, also director of interventional cardiology and the cardiac cath lab at UC San Diego Health, patients typically experience a noticeable improvement in overall health and ability to breathe after each session.
Until the development of procedures like PTE and BPA, the only treatment available for CTEPH was lung transplantation. Now, UC San Diego Health experts perform approximately 200 PTE surgeries and 175 BPA procedures annually.
link