Cardiac surgeons from the General Hospital successfully operated on the 400th patient with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. No other workplace in the Czech Republic provides this unique performance.

In order to remove blood clots from the pulmonary vessels and make them clear, the 43-year-old woman had to be connected to the extracorporeal circulation and to a key part of the operation not only to stop the heart but also to the extracorporeal circulation, thereby interrupting the oxygen supply to the whole body and brain. To prevent damage to the patient's brain, they reduced her body temperature to 17 to 20 degrees Celsius by cooling her blood.

Thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is a relatively rare disease that occurs as a chronic consequence of recurrent pulmonary embolism. These cause blood clots to be released from the lower limbs or pelvis into the pulmonary arteries. In patients, there is insufficient dissolution of blood clots, which creates a barrier to blood flow. As a result, high pressure develops in the pulmonary arteries, the right heart enlarges, and subsequently the enlarged right ventricle fails.

The unique operation took place on II. surgical clinic of cardiovascular surgery at the Center for Pulmonary Hypertension VFN - at the largest workplace for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension in the Czech Republic.

Read more in press release.