Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.  2002 Sep;35(9):684-687.

Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy Under Total Circulatory Arrest

• Kim CY
• Kang CH
• Ahn H

Abstract

Besides lung transplantation, pulmonary thromboembolectomy is the only effective therapeutic option for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. It is however associated with a considerably high hospital mortality between 6.6 to 23%. Proper patient selection is critical when considering a patient for pulmonary thromboembolectomy. And It cannot be overemphasised that the key to the success of the operation is complete endarterectomy of the entire pulmonary arterial tree. We report that pulmonary thromboendarterectomy under total circulatory arrest was an effective and safe method in the surgical correction of the chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension and enabled complete removal of superimposed peripheral organized thrombi in a good operative field.

Keyword

Pulmonary embolism; Thromboendarterectomy, pulmonary

MeSH Terms

Endarterectomy*
Hospital Mortality
Humans
Hypertension, Pulmonary
Lung Transplantation
Patient Selection
Pulmonary Embolism