Continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography was used to estimate pulmonary artery pressures by measuring pulmonary regurgitant flow velocity in 21 patients with pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure greater than or equal to 20 mm Hg) and 24 patients without pulmonary hypertension. The pulmonary regurgitant flow velocity patterns, characterized by a rapid rise in flow velocity imme...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary hypertension is a disease characterized by an elevation in pulmonary arterial pressure that is diagnosed invasively via right heart catheterization. Such pathological altered pressures in the pulmonary vascular system should lead to changes in blood flow patterns in the main pulmonary artery. METHODS AND RESULTS Forty-eight subjects (22 with manifest pulmonary hypertensio...

OBJECTIVE It has been reported that dehydroepiandrosterone is a pulmonary vasodilator and inhibits chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Additionally, dehydroepiandrosterone has been shown to improve systemic vascular endothelial function. Thus, we hypothesized that chronic treatment with dehydroepiandrosterone would attenuate hypoxic pulmonary hypertension by enhancing pulmonary arte...

W hile the seminal advance in the treatment of pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) over the past 2 decades has been pharmacological targeting of dysfunctional endothelium-derived pathways that contribute to the characteristic vascular remodeling of this condition irrespective of etiology (1), several novel interventional techniques have also been useful in selected patients. Atrial septostomy, ...

pulmonary arteriovenous malformations are rare clinical entities thai are associated with right to left shunts, and are often clinically presented by the triad of dyspnea, cyanosis, and digital clubbing. currently, transcatheter embolization of fistula is gaining increasing popularity as the superior therapeutic option. in certain situations, however, surgery is preferred. two cases of direct p...

Primary pulmonary hypertension is a disorder with limited treatment options and poor outcome. We demonstrated a beneficial role of sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor, in a patient with primary pulmonary hypertension. After the initiation of sildenafil the pulmonary artery pressure decreased from 40/20mmHg to 16/6mmHg, while mean pulmonary arterial systolic pressure decreased from 25mmH...

BACKGROUND There are limited data on the prevalence, pathophysiology, and management implications of pulmonary hypertension in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and advanced heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS To assess the clinical significance of measured cardiopulmonary hemodynamics in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients with heart failure, we retrospectively assessed r...

To investigate the relationships between local platelet activation in pulmonary vessels and pulmonary artery pressure circulating platelet aggregates and plasma beta-thromboglobulin (beta-TG) levels were evaluated in peripheral venous blood and blood from different sites of pulmonary circulation (right ventricle, pulmonary artery and arteriolo-capillary bed) in 29 patients with COPD. Fifteen ha...

Primary pulmonary hypertension is often associated with angina-like chest pain of uncertain etiology. Left main coronary artery compression by the pulmonary artery is a treatable cause of angina and should be considered in these patients. We describe a patient presenting with primary pulmonary hypertension, clinical angina and extrinsic compression of the left main coronary artery by the pulmon...