Joana Fernandes, PhD,  —

How people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are diagnosed and treated depends to a notable degree on the country or region in which they live, according to a new study, which also found that a sizable number never undergo right heart catheterization to confirm their disease. The findings, published in the…

Although subcutaneous infusion of Remodulin (treprostinil) is an effective treatment for patients with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), it can have undesired effects such as pain at the infusion site. But a study reports that speeding up Remodulin administration, and combining it with injection-site pain management, is an easily tolerated option that may help patients better…

Pregnancy can be a trigger for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in women with a genetic predisposition to the disease, according to a case study published in the journal Pulmonary Circulation. In the study, “Pregnancy As A Possible Trigger For Heritable Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension,” researchers detail the development of aggressive PAH during…

Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have higher than usual blood levels of S1P, a molecule that promotes worsening disease, according to a study published in the journal Pulmonary Circulation. The researchers, working in a rat PAH model, also found that blocking this protein improved pulmonary arterial structure and cardiac function, suggesting…

Several factors may help predict the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), like older age and, for women, the drop in estrogen brought on by menopause, researchers report. Given that PAH is one of the main causes of mortality among SSc patients, their study raises…

Despite increased attention on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), information on treatments for those patients with rare conditions — Eisenmenger syndrome or PAH with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) — is lacking. Two physician-researchers who addressed this are advising these patients be followed in tertiary academic centers to increase their enrollment in clinical…

A study published in the journal Nature Communications reported the case of several patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) who carried more than one pathogenic mutation in several genes. The researchers found that these patients had more severe symptoms, which suggests that additional mutations can worsen the pathology of the…

Liraglutide, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes (brand name, Victoza) and obesity (brand name, Saxenda), is currently being evaluated as a possible therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Now, a new study suggests that liraglutide may also be quite effective in treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The study, “Liraglutide prevents and reverses monocrotaline-induced…

An electronic nose, or “e-nose,” that can detect the presence of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was created by researchers at the Université Paris-Saclay in partnership with the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. The e-nose device makes use of the fact that PAH has a marked olfactory signature, with a specific…

A new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association reports that, in people with pulmonary hypertension (PH), females, middle-aged patients, and those with chronic diseases have an increased risk of mortality. Most current knowledge comes from small-scale or specialized studies. This is the first Taiwan nationwide…