Impact of rapid sequential combination therapy on distinct haemodynamic measures in newly diagnosed pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Aims: In pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), upfront combination therapy with ERA and PDE5i is associated with a reduction in morbidity and mortality events and improves standard haemodynamics, but data remain limited. Aims of this study were (i) to capture detailed haemodynamic effects of rapid sequential dual combination therapy in patients with newly diagnosed PAH; (ii) to monitor the impact of treatment initiation on clinical variables and patients' risk status, and (iii) to compare the treatment effect in patients with 'classical PAH' and 'PAH with co-morbidities'.

Methods: Fifty patients (median age 57 [42-71] years, 66% female) with newly diagnosed PAH (76% idiopathic) were treated with a PD5i/sGC-S or ERA, followed by addition of the respective other drug class within 4 weeks.