Maureen Newman,  —

In contrast to the typical image of heart patients running on treadmills and being hooked up to diagnostic machines while a doctor monitors their heart rate and oxygen consumption, a group of idiopathic pulmonary arterial heart (IPAH) patients cycled in a research study while being evaluated for blood pressure,…

Patients with pulmonary hypertension secondary to scleroderma (also known as systemic sclerosis) may not be properly assessed for interstitial lung disease through forced vital capacity (FVC) alone, according to Dr. Elizabeth Volkmann, of the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Volkmann, a rheumatologist, spoke at the annual European Congress…

Although pulmonary hypertension and chronic lung disease are usually associated with adults, some cases develop in infancy. Dina Ferdman, MD, from Columbia University Medical Center, is finding a way to treat infant patients, who were premature and have severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic lung disease, using…

A group of researchers from Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University in Australia are working to make measuring pulmonary pressures safer for patients with pulmonary hypertension. Their study, published in Critical Ultrasound Journal,investigated the use of ultrasound-echocardiography for estimating mean pulmonary arterial pressure in critically ill patients. Although…

Bellerophon Therapeutics, who recently completed enrollment for a Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating INOpulse in patients with pulmonary hypertension, has fully enrolled another Phase 2 clinical trial, this time evaluating INOpulse in 159 pulmonary hypertension…

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) affects females more often than males. Since a major difference between females and males is their respective levels of estrogen production, estrogen is thought to play a role in PAH pathology. A group of researchers from the University of Glasgow and the Novartis…

Biothech company Bellerophon Therapeutics met the enrollment goal for its Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating INOpulse in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Eighty patients, with age limits of 16-80 years, were enrolled at 52 sites across the United States and Canada. INOpulse is pulsed, inhaled nitric oxide.

Actelion Ltd. met the primary endpoint of its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of selexipag in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients. Morbidity and mortality were decreased in patients dosed with selexipag relative to placebo. “I am overwhelmed by the result of this long-term outcome study that evaluated selexipag in…

Evaluating pulmonary arterial hypertension patients for heart performance parameters during exercise shortly after diagnosis allows for a good indication of the chance of survival for the patient, as noted in a study published in European Respiratory…

A group of researchers from Turkey improved the health of an 18-year-old patient using a homemade fenestrated atrial septal occluder. They published their study in BioMed Central with the…

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), a disease caused by unresolved pulmonary blood clots, is a major contributor to pulmonary hypertension. Previous reports have identified that…

Jose Caceres, MD, from Jacobi Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, recently presented research at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference that adds fuel to the “obesity paradox phenomenon.” Whereas obesity (higher body mass index, or BMI) is usually associated with poorer health outcomes, Dr. Caceres’…