Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a serious disease in which blood flow is obstructed by organized thrombi in the pulmonary artery, resulting in increased pulmonary vascular resistance, elevated pulmonary artery pressure, and decreased cardiac output, leading to severe right heart failure in the terminal stage1).
It is one of the government-designated intractable diseases, and the prognosis for patients with untreated CTEPH has been very poor2). Annual trends of the number of patients with CTEPH in Japan show a gradual increase, and the number of patients in 2021 exceeded 4,8003).
This disease is classified into “central” and “peripheral” types according to the main location of the organized thrombi. While pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) has been established as a treatment for the central type1,2), until recently there have been no effective therapeutic interventions for the peripheral type of CTEPH. However, since three papers were reported from Japan in 2012, catheter-based balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) has become increasingly popular worldwide4-6). In the meantime, two pulmonary vasodilators, riociguat and celexipag, have been approved for use in the treatment of this disease7,8), and the treatment strategy of CTEPH has undergone a major transformation9). This review will outline the diagnosis and treatment of CTEPH with a focus on BPA. We will also discuss our efforts to manage a rare disease such as CTEPH in sparsely populated areas such as Fukushima Prefecture.