Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

Non-invasive Doppler echocardiography does as good a job of assessing high blood pressure in lung arteries as the current invasive standard of right heart catheterization, a pulmonary hypertension study suggests. And doctors can use the results from either method to predict PH patients’ outcomes, researchers said. The team published their findings in…

Diagnosing and managing pulmonary hypertension in premature American infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia vary a lot from doctor to doctor, a survey of 306 neonatologists indicates. The study, “Practices surrounding pulmonary hypertension and bronchopulmonary dysplasia amongst neonatologists caring for premature infants,” was published in the Journal of Perinatology.

A tool for estimating blood pressure on the left side of the heart is unable to predict the long-term survival of pulmonary hypertension patients taking Remodulin, a study reports. The tool, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, or PCWP, is used to estimate blood pressure in the left atrium. United Therapeutics makes …

Using a multi-category index to assess pulmonary hypertension patients’ response to Adempas (riociguat) can help doctors predict their survival, a study reports. REVEAL risk scores can also help doctors predict patients’ progression-free survival — or the length of time it takes for their disease to worsen, researchers said. The study, which…

Echocardiograms can identify infants at risk of developing pulmonary hypertension, especially babies who are underweight, a German study reports. Early treatment can eliminate PH in many newborns, the study added. The research, in the journal Neonatology, is titled “An Echocardiographic Screening Program Helps to Identify Pulmonary Hypertension…

A study in mice offers insight into why women are more susceptible to developing pulmonary hypertension than men. It suggests that genes in the Y chromosome – which confers the male sex – may protect against the development of pulmonary hypertension. The finding suggests that differences in susceptibility to the…

Preclinical work supports the potential of  sotatercept to be a first-in-class disease-modifying therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and to moving the investigational therapy into a Phase 2 trial in patients, Acceleron Pharma announced. Sotatercept is a  trap molecule for members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily. A growing body of evidence…

A compound that scientists have been examining as a cancer therapy reduced blood pressure in pulmonary hypertension patients’ lungs, according to a clinical trial. Researchers tested the therapy, dichloroacetic acid, in 20 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. Although all responded, some with particular gene mutations failed to respond as well,…

Professor David Kiely, MD, and his team at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, received a national award from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network and Royal College of Physicians. Kiely, who is director of the Sheffield Pulmonary Vascular Disease Unit…

Beta blockers, the cornerstone therapy for left-side heart failure, can improve pulmonary arterial hypertension, a small study indicates. The results suggested that the therapy could help prevent right-side heart failure, the leading cause of death among PAH patients. The study, “Pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment with carvedilol for…

African-Americans with pulmonary hypertension and without health insurance have a two-fold increased risk of dying of this disease compared to white Americans, possibly because of delays in referral and treatment, a retrospective study reports. The study “Health Insurance and Racial Disparities in Pulmonary Hypertension Outcomes,” published in…

Adcirca (tadalafil) exerts a variety of positive effects that may explain why the therapy improves idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), according to an in vitro study. The study, “Tadalafil induces antiproliferation, apoptosis, and phosphodiesterase type 5 downregulation in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension in vitro,” was published…