Role of combined exercise stress echocardiography and cardiopulmonary exercise test in chronic thromboembolic disease

Abstract

Funding Acknowledgement: Type of funding sources: None. Background: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease (CTEPD) without pulmonary hypertension could cause significant exercise limitations. However, interventional or surgical treatments for CTEPD with mild pulmonary hypertension or normal pressure are on controversy. Purpose: We aimed to evaluate cardiopulmonary function through car-diopulmonary exercise test (CPET) with stress echocardiography and to determine whether exercise pulmonary hypertension can explain exercise limitations in CTEPD patients with mPAP <30mmHg. Methods: Patients diagnosed as CTEPD with mPAP less than 30mmHg was derived from our pulmonary hypertension center registry from April 2014 to October 2021.Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was performed at baseline (resting state) and immediately after CPET. TTE derived parameters and CPET parameters were compared with hemodynamic parameters measured by right catheterization. Results: Total 37 patients were enrolled. Of these, Thirty-five patients had previously been diagnosed with CTEPH and had undergone PEA, BPA, or