Procedural characteristics of BPA
| Low DLco (n=36) | Normal DLco (n=39) | P value | |
| Procedural | |||
| Total number of BPA procedures | 246 | 208 | |
| Median number of BPA procedures per patient | 6 (4–10) | 4 (4-6) | 0.059* |
| Number of treated lung segments per procedure | 6.2±2.8 | 6.1±2.7 | 0.720† |
| Total number of treated segments per patient | 42.4±2.8 | 32.6±2.7* | 0.026† |
| Number of pulmonary vessels per procedure | 11.3±6.0 | 11.0±6.0 | 0.622† |
| Ratio of total occluded lesion to treated branches, % | 1.7 | 1.5 | 0.717‡ |
| Total number of treated pulmonary vessels per patient | 77.3±6.0 | 58.9±6.0* | 0.039† |
| Fluoroscopy time per procedure, min | 56.8±18.1 | 64.2±20.4* | <0.001† |
| Contrast medium per procedure, mL | 118.9±41.8 | 125.6±41.1 | 0.096† |
| Complication (number of procedure) | |||
| Haemosputum or haemoptysis | 21 (8.5) | 23 (11.1) | 0.819† |
| Contrast agent-related renal dysfunction | 0 | 0 | >0.999§ |
| Pneumothorax | 0 | 0 | >0.999§ |
| Use of NPPV | 11 (4.5) | 10 (4.8) | 0.865† |
| Use of ECMO | 0 | 0 | >0.999§ |
| Death related to BPA | 0 | 0 | >0.999§ |
Data are presented as the mean±SD, median (IQR) or n (%).
The p value was calculated by the independent t-test (*), χ2 test (†), Fisher’s exact test (‡) or Mann-Whitney U test (§) between the two groups.
BPA, balloon pulmonary angioplasty; DLco, diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide; ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; NPPV, non-invasive positive pressure ventilation.