Sex-Specific Differences in Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Treated with Balloon Pulmonary Angioplasty

Background/Objectives: Several studies describe the sex-specific differences in cardiovascular diseases. However, there is still limited research reporting the difference between men and women with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) treated with balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA). The aim of this study was to evaluate sex-specific differences in patients with CTEPH treated with BPA. Methods: This retrospective study included CTEPH patients treated with BPA. The patients' hemodynamic and clinical parameters were assessed at baseline and 3 months after completion of BPA treatment. Results: This study included 94 patients (44 women, 46.8%). At baseline, women had higher systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP) (76 ± 18.5 vs. 85 ± 17.6 mmHg; p = 0.03) and pulmonary vascular resistance (8.21 [5.55-10.17] vs. 9.89 [6.31-14.06] Wood Units; p = 0.03) compared to men. There were no differences in clinical characteristics between the sexes. At follow-up, women had lower sPAP (49 [41-54] vs. 43 [37-49] mmHg; p = 0.04) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (10 [9-14] vs. 9 [8-11] mmHg; p = 0.03), but a higher cardiac index (2.57 ± 0.53 vs. 2.82 ± 0.50 L/min/m²; p = 0.03), as well as better Dyspnea Borg Scale outcomes, compared to men. Women had a greater reduction in mean pulmonary artery pressure (-43% vs. -37%; p = 0.049) than men. Conclusions: At baseline, women with CTEPH had worse hemodynamic parameters than men despite similar clinical symptoms. However, the hemodynamic status of women was better after BPA therapy. Hence, women seem better adapted to the disease at baseline and respond better to BPA. Further data are needed to investigate whether the management of CTEPH patients should be sex-differentiated.