Rationale: Imatinib 400mg daily reduces pulmonary vascular resistance and improves exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Concerns about safety and tolerability limit its use.
Objectives: To identify a safe and tolerated dose of oral imatinib between 100mg and 400mg daily and evaluate its efficacy.
Int J Cardiol Congenit Heart Dis
March 2025
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a complex and progressive disease characterized by elevated pulmonary vascular resistance and right heart failure. Current therapies primarily focus on pulmonary vasodilation; however, novel approaches that target the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms-such as TGF-β signalling, epigenetic alterations, growth factors, inflammation, and extracellular matrix remodelling-are promising alternatives for improving treatment outcomes. This is a review of recent advances in the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for PAH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcchd.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElevated circulating hepcidin levels have been reported in patients with pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). Hepcidin has been shown to promote proliferation of human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) in vitro, suggesting a potential role in PAH pathogenesis. However, the role of human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs) as either a source of hepcidin, or the effect of hepcidin on PAEC function is not as well described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary hypertension (PH) is a frequent complication of chronic lung disease (CLD). However, PH is difficult to diagnose early since accompanying symptoms overlap and are similar to those of the underlying CLD. In most cases the PH is mild to moderate and therefore physical signs may be absent or subtle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary hypertension (PH) is highly prevalent in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Widely available noninvasive screening tools are warranted to identify patients at risk for PH, especially severe PH, that could be managed at expert centres. This review summarises current evidence on noninvasive diagnostic modalities and prediction models for the timely detection of PH in patients with ILD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Contemporary patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) are older and exhibit cardiovascular or/and lung comorbidities. Such patients have typically been excluded from major PAH drug trials. This systematic review compares baseline characteristics, hemodynamic parameters, and mortality rate between PAH patients with significant number of comorbidities compared to those with fewer or no comorbidities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a biomarker of cardiac ventricular wall stress that is incorporated into pulmonary hypertension (PH) risk stratification models. Sendaway sampling may enable patients to perform NT-proBNP tests remotely. This UK-wide study aimed to assess the agreement of sendaway NT-proBNP with standard venous NT-proBNP and to assess the effect of delayed processing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary hypertension (PH) due to interstitial lung disease (ILD), a commonly encountered complication of fibrotic ILDs, is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Until recently, the studies of pulmonary vasodilator therapy in PH-ILD have been largely disappointing, with some even demonstrating the potential for harm. This paper is part of a series of Consensus Statements from the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute's Innovative Drug Development Initiative for Group 3 Pulmonary Hypertension, with prior publications covering pathogenesis, prevalence, clinical features, phenotyping, clinical trials, and impact of PH-ILD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterised by pulmonary vascular remodelling causing premature death from right heart failure. Established DNA variants influence PAH risk, but susceptibility from epigenetic changes is unknown. We addressed this through epigenome-wide association study (EWAS), testing 865,848 CpG sites for association with PAH in 429 individuals with PAH and 1226 controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPulmonary hypertension (PH) is a risk factor for mortality in patients with sarcoidosis. Severe PH in chronic lung disease has previously been defined as mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) ≥ 35 mmHg or mPAP 25 ≥ mmHg with cardiac index (CI) ≤ 2 L/min/m. However, there is no clear definition denoting severity of sarcoidosis-associated PH (SAPH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Data on right ventricular (RV) exercise adaptation following acute intermediate and high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate the symptom burden, RV functional recovery during exercise and cardiopulmonary exercise parameters in survivors of intermediate and high-risk acute PE.
Methods: We prospectively recruited patients following acute intermediate and high-risk PE at four sites in Australia and UK.
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a frequent complication of interstitial lung disease (ILD). Although PH has mostly been described in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, it can manifest in association with many other forms of ILD. Associated pathogenetic mechanisms are complex and incompletely understood but there is evidence of disruption of molecular and genetic pathways, with panvascular histopathologic changes, multiple pathophysiologic sequelae, and profound clinical ramifications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objective: Pulmonary hypertension is a life-limiting complication of interstitial lung disease (ILD-PH). We investigated whether treatment with phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) in patients with ILD-PH was associated with improved survival.
Methods: Consecutive incident patients with ILD-PH and right heart catheterisation, echocardiography and spirometry data were followed from diagnosis to death, transplantation or censoring with all follow-up and survival data modelled by Bayesian methods.
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) has been linked to worse outcomes in chronic lung diseases. The presence of PH in the setting of underlying Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) is strongly associated with decreased exercise and functional capacity, an increased risk of hospitalizations and death. Examining the scope of this issue and its impact on patients is the first step in trying to define a roadmap to facilitate and encourage future research in this area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To test the hypothesis that deep learning (DL) networks reliably detect pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and provide prognostic information.
Methods And Results: Consecutive patients with PAH, right ventricular (RV) dilation (without PAH), and normal controls were included. An ensemble of deep convolutional networks incorporating echocardiographic views and estimated RV systolic pressure (RVSP) was trained to detect (invasively confirmed) PAH.