Margarida Maia, PhD, science writer —

People with precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) and a poorly working right ventricle may benefit from ranolazine, which is used for chest pain caused by heart disease. Data from a Phase 4 study where PH patients took ranolazine for about six months showed better right heart function and more sugar…

Developing chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) within two years after a venous thromboembolism (VTE), which occurs when a blood clot forms in a vein, nearly doubles the risk of long-term death, according to a large study from Denmark. Researchers also observed that all types of pulmonary hypertension (PH)…

MRE-269, an active metabolite of Uptravi (selexipag), is more effective at stopping the growth of lung cells from people with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) than it is in healthy lung cells, a study found. Researchers also discovered that MRE-269 may do this by increasing the activity of ID1…

Members from two families with diagnosed or suspected pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) each carried two copies of mutations that map to the CAPNS1 gene and are likely rare causes of the disease, according to a study. The study, “Biallelic variants in the calpain regulatory subunit CAPNS1 cause pulmonary…

More than half of people with pulmonary hypertension (PH) may experience symptoms during sexual activity, such as difficulty breathing (dyspnea), heart palpitations, and chest pain, a small study found. However, around 2 in 3 patients don’t consider it important to bring up the topic of sexuality to their…

Certain genes are differentially expressed, meaning they have different activity, in people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) whose right side of the heart fails to work as it should, a study found. Researchers believe that those genes, generally involved in regulating the electrical properties of the heart’s muscle cells,…

About 1 in 4 people with pulmonary hypertension (PH) have right ventricle (RV) energy failure — when one of the heart’s lower chambers fails to provide enough energy to push blood to the lungs — a Turkish study found. Researchers also observed that people with RV energy failure were…

A new game-style app aims to help doctors and medical imaging technicians learn to better identify signs of pulmonary hypertension (PH) on an echocardiogram, an ultrasound image of the heart. Called EchoRight Pro and developed by Janssen, the free app is available from Apple’s App Store…

Children with pulmonary hypertension (PH) may experience a wide range of side effects from medications being used off label, and such reactions may differ from those affecting adults, a survey study found. “Further research is needed to better understand the clinical implications of these side effects,” the researchers wrote,…

People with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) may lack some key vitamins and minerals their bodies need daily to stay healthy, which may lessen their vitality, according to a small study from the Netherlands. Besides the known lack of vitamin D and iron, researchers observed lower than recommended levels of…

Treatment with Adcirca (tadalafil) or Revatio (sildenafil) may help patients who develop pulmonary hypertension secondary to an interstitial lung disease to live longer, according to a new study from the U.K. “Patients treated with [these therapies] survived longer than untreated patients,” the researchers wrote, noting a median survival of…

Less oxygen uptake during exercise increases the risk of clinical worsening in people with pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to a heart defect called pulmonary artery stenosis (PAS), a study shows. Data also showed the chance of recovery was generally poor for this subgroup of patients and it was common…