Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH): updated Recommendations of the Cologne Consensus Conference 2011.
In the 2009 European Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH), one section covers aspects of pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). The practical implementation of the guidelines for this disease is of crucial importance, because CTEPH is a subset of PH which can potentially be cured by pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA). Nowadays, CTEPH is commonly underdiagnosed and not properly managed. Any patient with unexplained PH should be evaluated for the presence of CTEPH, and a ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scan is recommended as screening method of choice. If the V/Q scan or CT angiography reveals signs of CTEPH, the patient should be referred to a specialized center with expertise in the medical and surgical management of this disease. Every case has to be reviewed by an experienced PEA surgeon for the assessment of operability. In this updated recommendation, important contents of the European guidelines were commented, and more recent information regarding diagnosis and treatment was added.
Clinic for Internal Medicine V, Saarland University Hospital, Homburg. heinrike.wilkens@uks.eu
Heinrike
H
Wilkens
Irene
I
Lang
Jürgen
J
Behr
Thomas
T
Berghaus
Christian
C
Grohe
Stefan
S
Guth
Marius M
MM
Hoeper
Thorsten
T
Kramm
Ulrich
U
Krüger
Frank
F
Langer
Stephan
S
Rosenkranz
Hans-Joachim
HJ
Schäfers
Matthias
M
Schmidt
Hans-Jürgen
HJ
Seyfarth
Thorsten
T
Wahlers
Heinrich
H
Worth
Eckhard
E
Mayer
D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D011859:Radiography; D012307:Risk Factors; D014692:Ventilation-Perfusion Ratio