Maureen Newman,  —

When young patients develop juvenile systemic sclerosis (JSSc), it is vital to monitor them for changes in cardiopulmonary parameters that may lead to conditions such as pulmonary hypertension. However, there are no current guidelines that describe which cardiopulmonary parameters are most vital to monitor in order to screen for diseases…

It is widely accepted that hypertrophic mesenchymal stem cells contribute to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in individuals with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Now, as a result of a study presented at the 2014 American College of Rheumatology Meeting, scientists have reason to believe that endothelial cells can increase the pool…

Boehringer Ingelheim, a leader in the pharmaceuticals industry, recently received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal  Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the use of nintedanib (suggested brand name OFEV®) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Nintedanib is now on…

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is uniformly defined as high pressure in the pulmonary vasculature but can be divided into three groups: active, passive, and reactive. According to the Department of Anaesthesia & Intensive Care of Chinese University of Hong Kong, passive PH is due to high…

Combining two drug therapies, statins and imatinib, may be more beneficial for pulmonary hypertension management than using either alone. The laboratory of Daria Orszulak-Michalak in Poland investigated co-administration of rosuvastatin or simvastatin with imatinib in rats with experimentally-induced pulmonary hypertension and found a benefit in reducing disease severity. Both…

Although riociguat is indicated for treatment of pulmonary hypertension, Bayer HealthCare is looking to repurpose the drug to treat patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc). Bayer initiated a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 study using riociguat in patients with the…

Patients with systemic sclerosis hoping to enroll in clinical trials investigating hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may be disqualified if they have pulmonary hypertension. During the Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation International Scleroderma (ASTIS) trial, reasons for turning away interested patients included pulmonary hypertension and left ventricular ejection fraction less than…

In a perfect world, equivalent responses to treatments from patients with pulmonary hypertension would make all treatment outcomes predictable and highly effective. In reality, this is not the case. However, distinguishing subtypes of pulmonary arterial hypertension can at least improve treatment outcomes by better matching patients to treatments using…

Patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) who respond differently to treatment with pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) may have differences in microvascular structure. When a team of researchers from Paris-South University and Centre Chirugical Marie Lannelongue investigated CTEPH pathogenesis in humans, they applied their findings related to microvasculature changes…

While the majority of individuals suspected of having pulmonary hypertension would prefer to receive a physical examination to confirm diagnosis, invasive right heart catheterization may still offer the most reliable indication of diagnosis. “Utility of the Physical Examination in Detecting Pulmonary Hypertension: A Mixed Methods…

Naturally occurring microRNA molecules (miRNA) hold the potential to be a new treatment for pulmonary artery disease. A group at Sookmyung University and Yale University led by Professor Kim Jong-min investigated the causes of pulmonary arterial hypertension and discovered new molecular mechanism contributing to the disease. “Our research is…

At the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim and Giessen University, a team of scientists under the leadership of Dr. Soni Savai Pullamsetti is uncovering potential reasons why pulmonary arteries become narrowed and lead to pulmonary hypertension. Recent experiments, highlighted in a…