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The presence of atrial arrhythmias may help predict unfavorable prognosis in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a study published in the Cardiology Journal. The study also showed that longer P-waves, a type of wave found in electrocardiographies (ECG), can predict shorter survival rates. The work was developed…

Mifcare, a Paris-based biotechnology company recently announced positive pre-clinical results for their compound MFC1040.

Screening the gene transcripts of both people with pulmonary arterial hypertension and several PAH animal models, researchers at Mie University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan identified a new gene that might contribute to the disease. The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology under the title…

Erica Huntzinger, today a pulmonary hypertension (PH) activist and advocate, remembers her mother, Susan, beginning to experience PH symptoms in her mid-30s, but going improperly undiagnosed for more than a quarter century. During this period, Susan suffered two respiratory failures, a heart attack, and as many as five emergency room visits a year…

Oxygen therapy given newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension likely works to cement the molecular changes that led to the condition in the first place, further worsening, rather than treating, the illness. The study, “Hypoxia and hyperoxia potentiate PAF receptor-mediated effects in newborn ovine pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells: significance in oxygen…

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University are exploring how a protein, found in high levels in patients with pulmonary hypertension, might drive disease, while at the same time investigating potential treatments targeting the factor. The protein that caught the attention of Dr. David Fulton — director of…

Actelion will soon start a Phase 3 clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of Opsumit (macitentan) in delaying the progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in children and adolescents. The long-term trial, called TOMORROW (pediaTric use Of Macitentan tO delay disease pRogRessiOn in PAH Worldwide), will be conducted in more than 20 countries and may lead to the first approved…

Researchers in Italy developed a clear way of exploring differences in autoantibodies to predict which scleroderma patients are likely to develop pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), improving their chances of getting appropriate treatment before changes in their lung blood vessels take place. The study, “Subspecificities of anticentromeric protein A antibodies identify…

The delivery and efficiency of ethyl pyruvate (EP), an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant agent, was significantly improved in a rat model of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) when encapsulated in nanoparticles (NPs). The study, “Intratracheal instillation of ethyl pyruvate nanoparticles prevents the development of shunt-flow-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in a rat…

Pulmonary hypertension is a respiratory disease characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. Being a rare and progressive disorder, it may be lonely to suffer from pulmonary hypertension. In this video, 25-year-old Shani shares her story of pulmonary hypertension, a disease she was diagnosed with when she was…

Measuring right ventricular (RV) function in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) using echocardiography is useful to predict patients’ prognosis, according to researchers at the Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Italy. This may be of clinical relevance because echocardiography is cheaper and provides faster results than standard techniques, such as cardiac magnetic resonance…

Sensitivity to DNA damage may act as an early trigger of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), according to researchers at the Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, in Canada. In the study “DNA Damage and Pulmonary Hypertension,” published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences,…