Optical coherence tomography imaging of inoperable chronic

Optical coherence tomography imaging of inoperable chronic
thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension treated with refined balloon
pulmonary angioplasty
Article ID: AOP_14_088
ISSN: 1897-9483
Authors: Marek Roik, Dominik Wretowski, Andrzej Łabyk, Maciej Kostrubiec, Olgierd
Rowiński, Piotr Pruszczyk
Article type: Clinical image
Received: October 27, 2014.
Revision accepted: October 30, 2014.
Published online: October 30, 2014.
This article has been peer reviewed and published immediately upon acceptance.
It is an open access article, which means that it can be downloaded, printed, and distributed freely,
provided the work is properly cited.
Articles in Polish Archives of Internal Medicine are listed in PubMed.
Optical coherence tomography imaging of inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary
hypertension treated with refined balloon pulmonary angioplasty
Marek Roik1*, Dominik Wretowski1, Andrzej Łabyk1, Maciej Kostrubiec1, Olgierd
Rowiński2, Piotr Pruszczyk1
1
Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
2 nd
2 Department of Clinical Radiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
* Correspondence to:
Marek Roik, MD, PhD, Klinika Chorób Wewnętrznych i Kardiologii, Warszawski
Uniwersytet Medyczny, Lindleya 4, 02-005 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: (+4822) 502 11 44, fax (+4822) 502 13 63;
email: mroik@wum.edu.pl
Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) usually results from the chronic
obstruction of the pulmonary arteries by unresolved thromboemboli following acute
pulmonary embolism (PE). Surgical pulmonary endarterectomy is the first-line therapy in
CTEPH, however some patients are inoperable due to high perioperative risk or distal
localization of thrombi. Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), a new emerging therapy, with
growing evidence has been adopted in this group of patients [1]. Recently refined BPA has
been described with use of new imaging modalities, which markedly improved both BPA
efficacy and safety [2,3]. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a novel, promising tool and
was reported to be useful in the diagnosis and management of CTEPH [4].
Thus, we present a case of 80-year-old woman with CTEPH who was admitted for the next
stage of refined BPA. The right heart catheterization confirmed severe pulmonary
hypertension (mean PAP - 49 mmHg) and pulmonary angiography revealed distal CTEPH.
To prevent severe complications (reperfusion pulmonary oedema or artery perforation) we
performed OCT- guided refined BPA. Based on OCT measurements (lumen size, length of
the lesion) and imaging (type of the lesions – webs, slits or ring like stenosis) – (figure 1 A,B,C), we used proper sized balloons (monorail balloon cathether, Pantera 3.5 x 15 mm,
Biotronik). Furthermore three-dimensional OCT allowed to assess precisely the morphology
of obstructive lesion of segmental pulmonary artery (figure 1D). We achieved very good final
result of OCT-guided BPA (figure 1 – in the lower right corner). In-hospital course after BPA
was uneventful and the patient was discharge home with improved functional capacity .
OCT was very useful in precise localization and assessment of target lesions of pulmonary
arteries (intravascular web, meshwork, slits). Moreover, OCT allowed to select the
appropriate balloon size and length. Therefore, in our opinion OCT-guided BPA shows
improved efficacy and safety, and we propose that OCT should be used routinely during BPA,
however observation need to be confirmed in large studies.
References
1. Sugimura K, Fukumoto Y, Satoh K, et al. Percutaneous transluminal pulmonary
angioplasty markedly improves pulmonary hemodynamics and long-term prognosis in
patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Circ J.
2012;76(2):485-8.
2. Mizoguchi H, Ogawa A, Munemasa M, Mikouchi H, Ito H, Matsubara H. Refined
balloon pulmonary angioplasty for inoperable patients with chronic thromboembolic
pulmonary hypertension. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2012;5(6):748-55.
3. Roik M, Wretowski D, Łabyk A, et.al. Refined balloon pulmonary angioplasty in
inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension - A multi-modality
approach to the treated lesion. Int J Cardiol. 2014;doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2014.09.051.
4. Tatebe S, Fukumoto Y, Sugimura K, et al. Optical coherence tomography as a novel
diagnostic tool for distal type chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Circ
J. 2010;74(8):1742- 4.
Figure 1. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the pulmonary arteries in a patient with
CTEPH treated with balloon pulmonary angioplasty. A – The pulmonary artery with no
lesion; B- luminal flaps (webs/meshwork) of segmental artery of the left lower lobe; Cthrombotic occlusion of the artery; D- three dimensional OCT of the lesion before BPA.
In the lower right corner final angiographic result of BPA of left pulmonary artery. Please
note marked improvement of peripheral blood flow distally to the treated lesion