BACKGROUND Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension leads to pulmonary hypertension and right-sided heart failure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of percutaneous transluminal pulmonary angioplasty (PTPA) for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-nine patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension...

Vitamin K antagonists are advised in pulmonary arterial hypertension patients despite a lack of safety data. We reviewed major bleeding in three classes of pulmonary hypertension patients, all receiving vitamin K antagonists. Bleeding event rates were 5.4 per 100 patient-years for patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, 19 per 100 patient-years for connective tissue disease re...

In recent years, there has been a major advance in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. New medications are continually added to the therapeutic arsenal. The prostanoids are among the first agents used to treat pulmonary hypertension and are currently considered the most effective. This case study describes a 63-year-old man who was diagnosed with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertensi...

Riociguat (Adempas): a novel agent for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

O ur understanding of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), in terms of its natural history, pathophysiology and management of patients, has greatly improved since the landmark descriptions given by Kenneth Moser and Nina Braunwald [1] more than 40 yrs ago. At that time, small case series were available depicting the clinical features of patients suffering from ‘‘long-standing ...