Survival rates of patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) unable to undergo surgical treatment have significantly improved in recent years, a retrospective study has found. This suggests that minimally invasive balloon pulmonary angioplasty and other interventions implemented more recently can improve CTEPH patients’ prognoses. The study, “Predictors…

Greater experience in balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) enables shorter hospital stays for patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), reduces use of intensive care, and lowers medical costs while maintaining the procedure’s safety, according to new data from real-world practice in Japan. The study, “Shortening Hospital Stay Is…

Actelion Pharmaceuticals’ Opsumit (macitentan) may be a potential therapy for portopulmonary hypertension, according to positive results from a Phase 4 clinical study. The data was presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) meeting, held Sept. 15-19 in Paris. The development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in association with…

Treatment with Tracleer (bosentan) is effective in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a new review study and analysis of data from clinical trials shows. The research, “Bosentan Therapy for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: A Systemic Review and…

Important research findings, therapy advances, and other events related to pulmonary hypertension were reported daily in Pulmonary Hypertension News during 2017. Now that the year is over, it’s time to briefly review the articles that appealed most to our readers. Here are the Top 10 most-read articles of 2017, with a brief description of…

Patients with blood clots in the lungs known as chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) can benefit from balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), a new study shows. The procedure is an alternative to the standard treatment for CTEPH — pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) — in patients who are not eligible…

Actelion’s Opsumit (macitentan) made it easier for blood to pass through the lung blood vessels of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) patients, a Phase 2 clinical trial suggests. In addition to lowering patients’ lung blood pressure, Opsumit also improved their ability to exercise, and was safe, researchers said. The trail…

Information from a pulmonary hypertension registry at Germany’s University Hospital Giessen indicates that patient survival rates vary with the cause of their disease. Researchers published the results in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. The study was titled “The Giessen Pulmonary Hypertension Registry: Survival in pulmonary hypertension subgroups.” A…

The World Health Organization has a pulmonary hypertension clinical classification system that was created in 2008 and updated the following year, where they divide the disease into five groups, sorted by cause, origin, incidence and prevalence. This classification system is used for death certificates, diagnosis, mortality statistics, records, and other purposes. MORE: …

The lung functioning of pulmonary hypertension patients treated with Bayer’s Adempas improved by 50 percent over a median of six years and stabilized in another 45 percent, according to a Phase 2 clinical trial. Those findings and others indicate that Adempas is a good long-term therapy for pulmonary…

Johnson & Johnson has completed its acquisition of Actelion, a company that develops pulmonary hypertension therapies, six months after the deal was announced in January. Actelion is now part of J&J’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary, according to a news release. Janssen pledged to maintain the leadership position that Actelion built in…

A new Pulmonary Hypertension Association awareness campaign is featuring singer Traci Braxton, who has two sisters with related diseases. The public service ads, an extension of a previous awareness effort, are in print, online, and on radio and television. One target will be commuters going in and out of Amtrak’s Northeast…