A successful case of pulmonary thromboendarterectomy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension with a thrombus in the right ventricle

Chronic thromboembolism is a frequent cause of progressive hypertension and carries a poor prognosis. Medical treatment is not effective and surgery provides the only potential for a cure at present. We herein report a successful case of thromboendarterectomy treated via a median sternotomy with intermittent circulatory arrest. A 43-year-old man was admitted to our hospital complaining of progressive dyspnea, edema of the lower extremities, and a fever with an unknown origin. A subsequent definitive evaluation showed him to be suffering from surgically accessible chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension with a thrombus in the right ventricle. He underwent a pulmonary thromboen-darterectomy and thrombectomy via a median sternotomy with intermittent circulatory arrest on November 24, 1994. Postoperatively he showed a marked improvement in his hemodynamic status and blood gas analysis. He has also returned to work with no trouble. Deep vein thrombosis appeared to be the pathogenesis of this case, but we could not find the origin of his unknown fever. He is currently being controlled by treatment with methylprednisolone as before.