Publications by authors named "Teresa DE Marco"

Article Synopsis
  • Left heart disease (LHD) is a leading cause of pulmonary hypertension (PH), further classified into isolated post-capillary (ipcPH) or combined pre- and post-capillary PH (cpcPH).
  • Recent clinical trials emphasize avoiding pulmonary arterial hypertension treatments for PH-LHD patients outside of trials, as these treatments may cause harm.
  • A new PH-LHD staging system categorizes patients into four stages based on their clinical and hemodynamic characteristics, which aims to improve diagnosis and treatment through a more individualized approach.
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Information on factors leading to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatment discontinuation is limited. This study analyzed 12,902 new PAH medication users to identify predictors of treatment discontinuation. Treatment by accredited pulmonary hypertension centers and combination therapy with PAH agents from different classes were less likely to result in discontinuation.

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Background: Female sex is a significant risk factor for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), yet males with PAH have worse survival - a phenomenon referred to as the "sex paradox" in PAH.

Methods: All adult PAH patients in the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry (PHAR) with congruent sex and gender were included. Baseline differences in demographics, hemodynamics, functional parameters, and quality of life were assessed by sex.

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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a heterogeneous disease within a complex diagnostic and treatment environment. Other complex heart and lung diseases have substantial regional variation in characteristics and outcomes; however, this has not been previously described in PAH. To identify baseline differences between U.

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Right heart (RH) structure and function are major determinants of symptoms and prognosis in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). RH imaging provides detailed information, but evidence and guidelines on the use of RH imaging in treatment decisions are limited. We conducted a Delphi study to gather expert opinion on the role of RH imaging in decision-making for treatment escalation in PAH.

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To better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care of patients with pulmonary hypertension, we conducted a retrospective cohort study evaluating health insurance status, healthcare access, disease severity, and patient reported outcomes in this population. Using the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry (PHAR), we defined and extracted a longitudinal cohort of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients from the PHAR's inception in 2015 until March 2022. We used generalized estimating equations to model the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient outcomes, adjusting for demographic confounders.

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Objective: Pulmonary artery compliance (PAC), estimated as stroke volume (SV) divided by pulmonary artery pulse pressure (PP), may be a predictor of survival in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Resistance-compliance (RC) time, the product of PAC and pulmonary vascular resistance, is reported to be a physiological constant. We investigated if differences in PAC and RC time exist between pulmonary hypertension (PH) subgroups and examined whether PAC is an independent predictor of transplant-free survival in PAH.

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Article Synopsis
  • Noninvasive heart transplant rejection surveillance is increasingly using gene expression profiling (GEP) and donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) assays, allowing for less frequent biopsies.
  • This transition raises practical questions that can slow down the adoption of these new monitoring tools in clinical settings.
  • The review aims to offer guidance on implementing these assays and addresses common queries about their use, interpretation, and future implications in heart transplant care.
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Noninvasive assessment of pulmonary hemodynamics is often performed by echocardiographic estimation of the pulmonary artery systolic pressure (ePASP), despite limitations in the advanced lung disease population. Other noninvasive hemodynamic variables, such as echocardiographic pulmonary vascular resistance (ePVR), have not been studied in this population. We performed a retrospective analysis of 147 advanced lung disease patients who received both echocardiography and right heart catheterization for lung transplant evaluation.

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Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a life limiting disease with substantial symptom burden and healthcare utilization. Palliative care alleviates physical and emotional symptoms for patients with serious illness, and has been underutilized for these patients.

Objective: To characterize patients with PAH referred to palliative care and identify predictors of referral.

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Background: Routine long-term anticoagulation in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is controversial. To date, anticoagulation has been found to be beneficial or neutral in idiopathic disease (IPAH) and neutral-to-harmful in connective tissue disease (CTD-PAH). We sought to examine the association between anticoagulation and mortality, healthcare utilization, and quality of life (QoL) in PAH.

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Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing surgery and anesthesia. This document represents the first international consensus statement for the perioperative management of patients with pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure. It includes recommendations for managing patients with PH being considered for surgery, including preoperative risk assessment, planning, intra- and postoperative monitoring and management strategies that can improve outcomes in this vulnerable population.

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The lung allocation score (LAS) was revised in 2015 to improve waiting list mortality and rate of transplant for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We sought to determine if the 2015 revision achieved its intended goals. Using the Standard Transplant Analysis and Research file, we assessed the impact of the 2015 LAS revision by comparing the pre- and postrevision eras.

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Outcomes of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) may be associated with social determinants of health (SDOH) and other baseline patient characteristics. At present, there is no prognostic model to predict important patient outcomes in PAH based on SDOH. Utilizing information from the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry (PHAR), we derive a model (PHAR Evaluation or PHARE) to predict an important composite patient outcomes based on SDOH and other patient characteristics.

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Advanced heart failure (AHF) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and greater healthcare utilization. Recognition requires a thorough clinical assessment and appropriate risk stratification. There are persisting inequities in the allocation of AHF therapies.

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Purpose Of Review: Methamphetamine use is increasing in popularity globally, and chronic users suffer from various drug toxicities, including the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Although it was previously thought to be a possible cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension, as of the sixth World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension, methamphetamine use is now recognized as a definite cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension. This review will discuss the history of methamphetamine use, the link between methamphetamine use and pulmonary arterial hypertension, and the clinical characteristics of patients with pulmonary hypertension from methamphetamine use.

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Background Current mortality data for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in the United States are based on registries that enrolled patients prior to 2010. We sought to determine mortality in PAH in the modern era using the PHAR (Pulmonary Hypertension Association Registry). Methods and Results We identified all adult patients with PAH enrolled in the PHAR between September 2015 and September 2020 (N=935).

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There is a noticeable underrepresentation of minorities in clinical trials and registries in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Prior studies evaluating the association between Hispanic ethnicity and clinical outcomes in patients with PAH have not assessed the socioeconomic profile of Hispanic individuals or the significance of social determinants of health in clinical outcomes. To determine the association between Hispanic ethnicity, social determinants of health, and clinical outcomes in PAH.

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