Pulmonary endarterectomy through inverted-T upper hemisternotomy

We aimed to explore the feasibility of an inverted-T upper hemisternotomy approach for pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) and report the results after 17 cases.

PEA was conducted through a 7-cm skin incision using an inverted-T upper hemisternotomy across the third intercostal spaces. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was established through central arterial and percutaneous femoral dual-staged venous cannulation. Perioperative and hemodynamic data were compared with 17 previous conventional PEAs performed by the same surgeon.

From July 2022 to September 2023, 22 PEAs were performed, 17 through inverted-T upper hemisternotomy. Contraindications were an inferior caval vein filter, concomitant coronary revascularization or mitral valve surgery, pulmonary artery intimal sarcoma, and an emergency. Compared with 17 preceding conventional PEAs, there was no significant difference in demographics or in CPB time (274 [256-301] vs 264 [250-274] minutes, P = .1629), deep hypothermic circulatory arrest time (56 [45-65] vs 54 [50-58] minutes, P = .9587), preoperative pulmonary vascular resistance (4.12 [3.10-4.79] vs 4.49 [3.25-6.24] Wood units, P = .5890), 6-month postoperative pulmonary vascular resistance (1.90 [1.40-2.56] vs 1.83 [1.44-2.20] Wood units, P = .6374), or hospital stay (10 [8-12] vs 11 [9-14] days, P = .3327). Intravenous opioid use (0.29 [0.21-0.83] vs 2.99 [1.31-4.33] mg, P < 1.10^-4) was significantly lower.

PEA using an inverted-T upper hemisternotomy approach is feasible and safe and obtains similar hemodynamic results compared with a full sternotomy approach without prolonging CPB and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest times. It offers bilateral treatment via a single incision and has few contraindications.