Abstract
Chronic pulmonary thromboembolism is one of the pathogenic mechanisms
for the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in thalassemic
patients, but there are no current recommendations for the management of
this complication. We report performing successful pulmonary
thrombo-endarterectomy in a patient with chronic thromboembolic
pulmonary hypertension linked to β-thalassemia, which was followed by
substantial hemodynamic and functional improvements. This report
supports the feasibility of pulmonary thromboendarterectomy in
thalassemic patients, and highlights the need for a comprehensive
evaluation for both the presence and cause of pulmonary arterial
hypertension prior to determining the likelihood of surgical cure.