In a new study, researchers determined that elevated serum bilirubin levels and a low 6-minute walk distance are predictors of poor prognosis in patients with inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. The research — whose findings appear to offer important disease prognosis markers — is titled “Serum Bilirubin and 6-min Walk Distance as Prognostic Predictors…
News
Residents of the Canadian province of Ontario affected by pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) gathered at the Queen’s Park provincial legislature in Toronto this week in hope of convincing Ontario’s Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins to make the drug Opsumit (macitentan) publicly accessible as a treatment option for Ontario…
The Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions is one of the largest gatherings on pulmonary hypertension (PH) worldwide, bringing patients, caregivers and top healthcare professionals together to share stories, exchange information, and network. Planning for the 2016 conference, to take place in Dallas, Texas, from June 17-19, is getting underway, and…
Over the last decade, new oral therapy agents in the form of pills used for the management and treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have been integrated and improved, such as ERAs, PDE-5 inhibitors, and prostacyclin analogs. Oral PAH therapy is a positive development for patients, since it makes compliance with…
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of rare diseases and conditions with ineffective treatments, announced that ubenimex, a drug developed as a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) therapy, has been granted Orphan Drug Status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ubenimex, also…
A new retrospective study of computed tomographies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients shows that chest CT has value as a diagnostic tool for COPD and its comorbidity pulmonary hypertension (PH). The research paper, entitled “Computed tomography measurement of pulmonary artery for diagnosis of COPD and its comorbidity…
A new survey sponsored by Bayer has revealed that many physicians report a lack of familiarity with a condition called chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). The 2015 Bayer PH Physician Survey was released on November 24 to help draw attention to CTEPH and the need for stepped-up education efforts to improve…
A recent perspective study explores catheter therapies as an alternative treatment for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) who do not respond well to traditional medication. The paper, written by a researcher from the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, is titled “Catheter-Based Therapies for Patients With…
In a new study, researchers aimed to evaluate nerve distribution around the pulmonary artery — the effect of pulmonary artery denervation on an acute pulmonary hypertension porcine model — both in terms of arterial pressure and artery histology. The research paper, entitled “Pulmonary Artery Denervation Reduces Pulmonary Artery Pressure…
In a new study, researchers investigated if 3-D phase-contrast observations of wall shear stress (WSS) and oscillatory shear index (OSI) could effectively diagnose and evaluate pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients, potentially leading to a markedly less invasive but accurate way of early disease diagnosis and management. The research paper, entitled “Low WSS and…
A new study identifies the hemodynamic variables that distinguish patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) from those with isolated post-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH), a finding that will help to diagnose and treat  more accurately and effectively patients with these disease subsets. The study, “Hemodynamic thresholds for pre-capillary pulmonary…
A recent review study has found that patients with HIV in Africa have a higher than average prevalence of developing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The study, entitled “HIV related pulmonary arterial hypertension: epidemiology in Africa, physiopathology, and role of antiretroviral treatment,” was published in the AIDS Research and…
