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Last Tuesday, May 13, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, together with the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, held a one-of-a-kind forum composed of FDA drug reviewers and patients diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). PAH is a condition wherein the lungs’ vasculature constricts and raises blood pressure, eventually…

Clinicians are constantly in need of biomarkers that can be used to non-invasively predict disease status of patients. In the case of pulmonary hypertension, one promising predictor is the N-terminal fragment of the pro-hormone for brain natriuretic peptide: N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Levels of NT-proBNP are elevated after…

Pulmonary hypertension can result from a number of causes: liver diseases, lung diseases, rheumatic disorders, low oxygen, poor health behaviors and can also be inherited. More than 80% of cases resulting from a genetic predisposition to the disease are due to a mutation in the bone morphogenic protein receptor 2…

According to recent data, there is a direct correlation between pulmonary emboli that result in the onset of pulmonary hypertension (PH) — an under recognized condition that researchers and medical practitioners alike hope to address in the PH patient population. Pulmonary embolism is the clinical condition marked by a…

A small pilot study by a team of French researchers has established the long-term benefits of upfront triple combination therapy among patients with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) describes pulmonary arterial hypertension as abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs that makes…

Results released Monday, May 5th from Canada’s Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) Patient and Caregiver Survey revealed that those in Canada diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH) are experiencing serious financial, social, and physical burdens as a result of being diagnosed with disease. Chief among the difficulties experienced among the PH…

Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of German-owned corporation, Bayer AG, has just announced that it has registered its therapeutic drug Riociguat for regulatory clearance in Japan. The drug has gone through intensive clinical research and development under Bayer, and is eyeing becoming the next novel treatment of two types of…

Bayer Healthcare recently announced the approval of its novel drug Adempas (riociguat), which has been listed by the Régie de l’assurance malady du Québec (RAMQ), the Québec public formulary, as the one and only treatment option for patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Québec is the first province to provide Adempas…

It was reported last month that the drug Sildenafil, popularly known as “Viagra,” an erectile dysfunction therapy for men, also revealed efficacy in treating those with pulmonary hypertension. However, for those with the disease who did not respond to sildenafil, a new, alliterative therapy may show promise, specifically for…

There is a basic difference between pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in adults and in children. In the former case, there are a wide range of causes that contribute to development of PAH, including thromoembolism, vascular obstruction, pulmonary insufficiency, alveolar hypoventilation, chronic lung disease, and other associated comorbidities (e.g.: systemic,…

It is commonly known that exercise capacity is impaired in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).  Thanks to a recent study, researchers were able to test a hypothesis on why this is the case, with the idea that perhaps cardiovascular reserve anomalies are in fact linked with an impaired hemodynamics response…

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a frequently encountered complication of Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). PAH is also the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among SSc patients. Despite some progress in new detection methods, standard right heart catheterization still remains the most effective means of diagnosis of PAH with Systemic…