Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Program
617-525-9733
About the program
The Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Program (CTEPH) is one of only a handful of programs nationwide that offer a comprehensive collaboration of medical, interventional, and surgical care for this condition. By bringing together experts from cardiothoracic surgery, pulmonary medicine, interventional cardiology, and cardiovascular medicine, we are better able to deliver the most appropriate and effective care for our patients with CTEPH.
What is CTEPH?
An embolus is a mass of platelets and proteins that gets lodged in a blood vessel and blocks blood flow. In most cases, these blockages are either broken down successfully with medication or the clot dissipates on its own. In some cases, however, medication is ineffective and/or the clots recur with increasing frequency.
When these clots go unresolved, a process of inflammation and scarring turns these clots into blockages that are even harder to eliminate with conventional treatments. This leads to a form of pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs) that is chronic and extremely dangerous.
Our approach
The primary symptom of CTEPH is an unexplained shortness of breath (dyspnea), which can be attributed to a wide variety of conditions. As a result, CTEPH is often misdiagnosed as one of these other conditions or is left undiagnosed.
As the disease progresses, other symptoms may appear, including:
- difficulty breathing
- water retention in the limbs (edema)
- swelling or bloating of the abdomen
- chest pain
- light-headedness
We use advanced diagnostic testing to determine whether patients have unresolved clotting in their lungs (CTEPH) or common pulmonary hypertension. We typically perform a right heart catheterization (to measure blood flow) and computed tomographic (CT) imaging of the pulmonary blood vessels and pulmonary arteries. This advanced testing also gives us a clearer picture of the nature of the disease, such as where it’s located in the lungs, helping us determine the best way to treat the disease.
Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension conditions and treatments
Our specialists
617-525-9733
Contact the Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Program
617-525-9733
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