Thesis on long-term results for patients undergoing surgery for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension
Janica Kallonen at the research group Thoracic Surgery, the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, defended her thesis "Long-term follow-up after surgery for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension" on May 5th, 2023.
Main Supervisor: Ulrik Sartipy.
What's the main focus of your thesis?
In this thesis we investigated long-term results for patients undergoing surgery for a rare disease called chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).
The guideline recommended treatment for CTEPH is a surgical treatment called pulmonary endarterectomy. Pulmonary endarterectomy is performed via sternotomy (open heart surgery) and using the heart-lung machine. The patient is cooled to 18 degrees Celsius to facilitate circulatory arrest and the pulmonary arteries are cleared of fibrotic scar tissue.
Which are the most important results?
We found that life expectancy after surgery for CTEPH was shorter compared to a general population, but the difference was small.
Women had higher crude early mortality. After adjustment for baseline characteristics, there was no significant difference in long-term survival between the sexes. Women, however, deviated more from the expected survival than men.
Patients with early postoperative residual pulmonary hypertension have worse long-term prognosis.
Quality of life after surgery for CTEPH was good compared to an age-matched population.
How can this new knowledge contribute to the improvement of people’s health?
We hope that increased knowledge on CTEPH leads to more patients getting diagnosed and referred for treatment to improve their prognosis and quality of life.
What are your future ambitions?
My ambition is to continue my clinical work as well as clinical research in the field of cardiac surgery.
Dissertation
Thesis
Long-term follow-up after surgery for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension