Association of residual pulmonary hypertension with survival after pulmonary endarterectomy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

This study investigated whether residual pulmonary hypertension (PH), defined as early postoperative mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) of ≥30 mmHg, after undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) was associated with long‐term survival. All patients who underwent PEA for CTEPH at two Scandinavian centers were included in this study. Baseline characteristics and vital statuses were obtained from patient charts and national health‐data registers. The patients were then categorized based on residual PH measured via right heart catheterization within 48 h after undergoing PEA. Crude and weighted flexible parametric survival models were used to estimate the association between residual PH and all‐cause mortality and to quantify absolute survival differences. From 1992 to 2020, 444 patients underwent surgery. We excluded 6 patients who died on the day of surgery and 12 patients whose early postoperative pulmonary hemodynamic data was unavailable. Of the total study population (n = 426), 174 (41%) and 252 (59%) patients had an early postoperative mPAP