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Our doctors and surgeons offer advanced surgical treatment for pulmonary hypertension to help you regain your quality of life.
Chronic pulmonary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure that affects the blood vessels between the lungs and the heart. This condition, also known as chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, or CTEPH, is serious and can cause recurring embolisms, or blood clots, in the lungs. Over time, these blood clots can form scars in the arteries inside the lungs, which block blood flow in the lungs. This condition may also cause the right heart valve to leak and the right ventricle to fail. It can affect people of all ages and cause symptoms such as swelling, shortness of breath and severe fatigue.
Our USC Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension Center doctors use the latest diagnostic tools, including CT scans, pulmonary angiograms and ventilation-perfusion scans (VQ scans), to give you an accurate diagnosis and design your personalized treatment plan.
We bring together specialists in pulmonology, surgery, cardiology, thoracic radiology and critical care to give you complete care — from diagnosis to treatment and recovery.
Our surgeons are highly experienced in surgical treatment options such as pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE), a procedure that offers permanent relief from the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension.
No matter how complex your condition or how long you’ve had symptoms, we are dedicated to delivering expert care so that you can regain your health and quality of life.
Your Keck Medicine of USC team uses 3 main tests for chronic pulmonary hypertension: CT scan, pulmonary angiogram and ventilation-perfusion scan (VQ scan).
Our team specializes in pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE), a surgery that offers permanent relief from the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension. For this surgery, you go on a heart-lung machine. The surgical team cools the body down to 18-20 degrees Celsius (64.4-68 degrees Fahrenheit) and shuts off all blood flow to the body. This cool temperature reduces your need for oxygen and protects internal organs so that the procedure can be done. Then, the surgeon uses a special instrument to core out the scar, a lot like unclogging a pipe. PTE surgery helps restore proper blood flow to the lungs, allowing oxygen to circulate through the body. The procedure gives patients tremendous relief from symptoms such as swelling, shortness of breath and severe fatigue.
Patients can expect to be in the ICU for up to a week (48 hours to 7 days). Your care team will start blood thinners after surgery to prevent new clots from forming. We also focus on getting you up and moving, to help you regain your mobility and get back home.
This surgery has one of the most dramatic improvements after recovery. Patients come in on oxygen, with swollen bellies and legs. Sometimes people are almost chairbound. Afterwards, they feel and move much better. One patient lost 80 pounds of water weight after surgery. It’s usually a dramatic difference in quality of life.
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