Can a Multidisciplinary Team Change the Course of Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension? Changes in Time to Diagnosis After PERT Implementation.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a potentially curable form of pulmonary hypertension, yet diagnostic delay remains a major barrier to timely treatment. Pulmonary embolism response teams (PERT) have emerged as a strategy to optimize follow-up after acute pulmonary embolism (APE), but local evidence on their impact on CTEPH diagnostic timing is scant. We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study comparing patients diagnosed with CTEPH before and after PERT implementation in a general hospital in Argentina. Among 29 patients, those diagnosed after PERT implementation had a significantly shorter time from APE to CTEPH diagnosis (median 43 vs. 256 weeks, p = 0.0369) and a non-significant trend toward lower-risk profiles at diagnosis. These findings support the role of structured multidisciplinary follow-up in accelerating CTEPH recognition outside specialized referral centers.