Balloon Pulmonary Angioplasty Becoming Safer Over Time

MONDAY, April 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) is becoming safer over time, with a reduction seen in complications from 2013-2017 to 2018-2022, according to a review published online March 22 in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.

Nishant Jain, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of the literature to examine the evolution of BPA procedure-related complications over time. Data were included from 26 published articles from 18 countries from 2013 to 2022; 1,714 patients underwent 7,561 BPA procedures and were followed for an average of 7.3 months.

The researchers found that the cumulative incidence of hemoptysis/vascular injury decreased from 14.1 to 7.7 percent from the first period (2013 to 2017) to the second period (2018 to 2022), while lung injury/reperfusion edema decreased from 11.3 to 1.4 percent and invasive mechanical injury declined from 0.7 to 0.1 percent. There was a reduction in mortality observed from 2.0 to 0.8 percent.

"BPA is undergoing natural evolution and becoming safer with increasing adoption over the years. Future work will further refine procedural technique and patient and lesion selection for BPA," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)