Oral treprostinil diethanolamine for pulmonary arterial hypertension.

The approval of oral treprostinil is a landmark event in the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Nineteen years after epoprostenol was approved we now have an oral prostanoid available in the USA. Although the current data in prostanoid naïve patients are unimpressive, emerging data suggest that in carefully selected patients oral treprostinil may be able to replace continuously infused treprostinil; however, many hurdles exist for this new medication including overcoming a complex side effect profile, astronomical cost and perhaps other entrants into the oral prostanoid space.