Vijaya Iyer, PhD,  —

Serum NLRC3 levels are markedly lower in patients with pulmonary hypertension, and correlate with results from other diagnostic tests, researchers from China report. This study with that finding, “NLRC3: A Novel Noninvasive Biomarker for Pulmonary Hypertension Diagnosis,” was published in the journal Aging and Disease. Right heart…

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients who underwent weight loss surgery were able to lose a significant amount of weight and showed improvements in lung function, a study reports. The study, “Bariatric surgery in patients with pulmonary hypertension,” was published in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.

Adempas therapy significantly improves lung and heart function in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) previously treated off-label with sildenafil, according to a Polish study. The study reporting the findings, “Sequential treatment with sildenafil and riociguat in patients with persistent or inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension improves…

Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and their caregivers can now access myMentor, a U.S. support program established by Bayer. The company launched the program at the International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions that recently concluded in Orlando, Florida, and was organized by…

Vivus Biopharmaceuticals’ investigative therapy VI-0106 for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) showed a favorable pharmacokinetic profile in healthy volunteers in a Phase 1 trial. Pharmacokinetics refers to how a medication is absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and eliminated from the body. VI-0106 is a soft gel formulation of tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant under…

Surgery to remove blood clots from the arteries improves pulmonary hypertension (PH) symptoms but not underlying sleep disorders in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), according to a study. The study, “Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Reversal of pulmonary hypertension but not sleep-disordered breathing following…

For pulmonary hypertension patients, medications they are taking can influence the severity of their fatigue, a common but often unaddressed symptom of the disease, a study suggests. Findings were published in the study, “Multidimensional fatigue in pulmonary hypertension: prevalence, severity and predictors,” in the journal European…

Clinical trials testing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) therapies show that PAH patients who also have congenital heart disease (CHD) can also benefit from these therapies, improving exercise capacity, blood flow, and quality of life, a review study reports. The study, “Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Medical Management…

Five Canadian provinces, Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador, have approved public health insurance coverage for Uptravi (selexipag), a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) therapy developed by Actelion. Quebec was the first province to approve public funding for Uptravi in Canada, in March 2018. The…

A Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT03464864) found that treprostinil can be safely delivered at varying doses using Technosphere, a novel inhalation device, MannKind, the device’s developer, announced. Treprostinil — a vasodilator —  was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002 for the treatment of pulmonary…