Implementation of balloon pulmonary angioplasty and evaluation of its effectiveness in treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), a distinct subtype of pulmonary hypertension, is a rare and debilitating disease. Left untreated, it causes progressive right ventricular failure and death. The calculated incidence of CTEPH in Latvia in 2016 was 5.1 cases per million inhabitants, whereas the prevalence was 15.7 cases per million inhabitants, which is one of the highest in Europe. Percutaneous balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is a novel and promising treatment method for selected patients with CTEPH. The aim of this project is to train local invasive cardiologists and introducing this treatment method at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, therefore creating a balloon pulmonary angioplasty excellence centre. In addition, a prospective, interventional, single-centre study will be conducted regarding the effectiveness of BPA in treating Latvian CTEPH patients and the results obtained will be published in scientific journals indexed in Web of Science or SCOPUS databases as well as presented at international cardiology conferences.