Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression in Pulmonary Hypertension and Changes during Therapy.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) leads to reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and course of anxiety and depression and their association with HRQoL, disease severity and survival in PH.

Methods: 131 PH patients (91 pulmonary arterial, 30 chronic thromboembolic, 10 due to lung disease; 84 female, 47 male) had repeated assessments with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), HRQoL, six-minute walk distance and WHO functional class during a mean course of 16 ± 12 months.

Reactive Pulmonary Capillary Hemangiomatosis and Pulmonary Veno-Occlusive Disease in a Patient with Repaired Scimitar Syndrome.

Pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis (PCH) is a rare histological substrate within the spectrum of pulmonary arterial hypertension that possibly represents an unusual manifestation of pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD). One of the histological hallmarks of PCH is the proliferation of pulmonary capillaries in the alveolar septa that infiltrate adjacent structures such as bronchioles, vessels, and visceral pleura. The hyperplastic process involving the smallest vessels of the pulmonary vascular bed might reflect uncontrolled angiogenesis, but whether this vascular proliferation is idiopathic or, conversely, a reactive process remains to be elucidated.

Pressure-Flow During Exercise Catheterization Predicts Survival in Pulmonary Hypertension.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension manifests with impaired exercise capacity. Our aim was to investigate whether the mean pulmonary arterial pressure to cardiac output relationship (mPAP/CO) predicts transplant-free survival in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

Methods: Hemodynamic data according to right heart catheterization in patients with PAH and CTEPH at rest and during supine incremental cycle exercise were analyzed.

Long-Term Outcome of Patients With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: Results From an International Prospective Registry.

Background: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, a rare complication of acute pulmonary embolism, is characterized by fibrothrombotic obstructions of large pulmonary arteries combined with small-vessel arteriopathy. It can be cured by pulmonary endarterectomy, and can be clinically improved by medical therapy in inoperable patients. A European registry was set up in 27 centers to evaluate long-term outcome and outcome correlates in 2 distinct populations of operated and not-operated patients who have chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.