Janet Stewart, MSc,  —

Tracleer, which improves pulmonary arterial hypertension patients’ exercise capability, may decrease the effectives of two other PAH treatments, Revatio and Adcirca, according to a study. One of the problems with treatment combinations is that some of the therapies can affect the others’ ability to do their work. This appears to be…

A Japanese study of nine families members who have heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension (HPAH) found different mutations in the same gene, called BMPR2, four of which had been identified before and four newly identified. Researchers also found a new mutation in another gene, KCNK3, that caused HPAH in another family. The researchers believe…

A majority of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have abnormalities in the lower left chamber of the heart, or left ventricle (LV), according to a new study. These patients tend to be older and to have higher blood pressure in the arteries supplying the lungs when the heart muscle…

Eliminating a long noncoding RNA reduced heart-muscle enlargement in mice with pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a study. The RNA, known as MALAT1, balances the turnover — or production, growth and death — of smooth muscle cells lining blood vessels. MALAT1 stands for metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1. The study, “…

High levels of a protein called galectin-3 are associated with pulmonary hypertension deaths, according to a study that says targeting the protein could be a way to develop treatments for PH. In fact, the higher the level of the protein, the higher the death rate, the research showed. The study,…

In a moderately sized group of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (nsVT) occurred more often than previously reported, researchers said, and patients with PH group 1 seemed to be more at risk. Nonsustained ventricular tachycardia is an abnormally rapid ventricular rhythm, usually greater than 100 beats per…

A recent study showed that patients with connective tissue disease-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (CTD-PAH) responded well to a combination therapy with ambrisentan and tadalafil, with a lower incidence of clinical failure when compared to therapy with either drug alone. The response, however, was not as impressive when compared to initial use of the…