Pulmonary vasodilators.

The effect of amlodipine and sildenafil on the NT-proBNP level of patients with COPD-induced pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important cause of heart failure in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The pro brain natriuretic peptide N-terminal (NT-proBNP) has been suggested as a noninvasive marker to evaluate ventricular function. However, there is no evidence to support the use of NT-proBNP in monitoring the benefits of vasodilators in COPD induced PH. Thus, we used NT-proBN...

Medical treatment of pulmonary hypertension in chronic lung disease.

In chronic respiratory diseases, especially chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pulmonary arterial hypertension is generally mild to moderate and the necessity for treating it can, therefore, be questioned. In fact, pulmonary hypertension, even when modest, may worsen markedly during acute episodes, exercise and sleep. These acute increases in mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) could...

The effects of vasodilators in pulmonary hypertension: pulmonary vascular or peripheral vascular?

When primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) was first described in the medical literature, it was characterized from a cardiac catheterization on a young woman who had an elevated pulmonary arterial pressure of unknown origin which, after the intravenous administration of acetylcholine, promptly fell.1 The sentinel description of this phenomenon led to the acceptance of PPH as a medical entity in...

Vasodilators in pulmonary hypertension.

Inhaled vasodilators as a new treatment strategy in pulmonary hypertension with left heart disease

Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) develop pulmonary hypertension due to an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). These patients may benefit from inhaled vasodilators to selectively reduce PVR. Here, we studied the effects of inhaled vasodilators on pulmonary and systemic hemodynamics and lung edema formation in a rat model of CHF. Since lungs of CHF patients are partially ...