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Case presentation A 37-year-old previously healthy and athletic woman presented to the ED in October 2018 with acute-onset high fever, dyspnea, and productive cough. Chest radiograph showed bilateral infiltrates that correlated with multifocal ground glass opacities in a thoracic CT scan ( Fig 1 ). The patient was severely hypoxemic and required intensive care and oxygen administration via a high-flow nasal cannula. On admission, leucocyte counts were 23.3 k/μL; platelet counts were 518 k/μL; hemoglobin level was 12 g/dL; C-reactive protein was 83 mg/L, and procalcitonin was 0.7 μg/L. An auto-antibody panel that included antinuclear antibodies, extractable nuclear antigen (including anti-centromere-antibodies), antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, and myositis- and granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor-antibodies was negative, as was the rheumatoid factor. Immunoglobulins that included IgG1-4 and IgA and renal function were normal. Sicca symptoms like xerophthalmia and xerostomia were negated. The patient fully recovered after empiric administration of antibiotics and glucocorticoids (initially 500 mg methylprednisolone daily over 3 days with consecutive tapering).

Symptomatic patients with residual pulmonary perfusion defects or vascular lesions but no pulmonary hypertension at rest are diagnosed with chronic thromboembolic disease (CTED). Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is an emerging treatment for patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), but data regarding the safety and efficacy of BPA in patients with CTED are lacking. We report a prospective series of ten consecutive patients with CTED who underwent 35 BPA interventions (median of four per patient) at two German institutions. All patients underwent a comprehensive diagnostic workup at baseline and 24 weeks after their last intervention. BPA was safe, with one pulmonary vascular injury and subsequent self-limiting pulmonary bleeding as the only complication (2.9% of the interventions, 10% of the patients). After the procedures, World Health Organization functional class, 6-min walking distance, pulmonary vascular resistance, and pulmonary arterial compliance improved, and NT-proBNP concentrations declined in 9/10 patients. BPA may be a new treatment option for carefully selected patients with CTED. A larger, prospective, international registry is required to confirm these results.

Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is an emerging treatment for patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).We report on a prospective series of 56 consecutive patients who underwent 266 BPA interventions (median, five per patient) at two German institutions. All patients underwent a comprehensive diagnostic work-up including right heart catheterisation at baseline and 24 weeks after their last intervention.BPA resulted in improvements in WHO functional class, 6 min walk distance (mean change, +33 m), right ventricular function and haemodynamics, including a decline in mean pulmonary artery pressure by 18% and in pulmonary vascular resistance by 26%. Procedure-related adverse events occurred in 9.4% of the interventions. The most common complications were related to pulmonary vascular injury and consecutive pulmonary bleeding. Most of these events were asymptomatic and self-limiting, but one patient died from pulmonary bleeding, resulting in a mortality rate of 1.8%.BPA resulted in haemodynamic and clinical improvements but was also associated with a considerable number of complications, including one fatal pulmonary bleeding. As the effects of BPA on survival are unknown, randomised controlled outcome trials comparing BPA with approved medical therapies in patients with inoperable CTEPH are required to allow for appropriate risk–benefit assessments.