News

Heart failure related to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is becoming more common, with patients living fewer years in full health, a trend that’s predicted to continue, with more cases and deaths expected by 2050, a study showed.

In the three decades from 1990 to 2021, women accounted for more cases of PAH than men, suggesting that future efforts should focus on better understanding sex-specific differences and tailoring interventions. However, age-standardized prevalence rates, which adjust the number of cases by accounting for differences in age, appear to be decreasing. read more

Pulmonary artery denervation (PADN), a procedure that targets overactive nerves involved in blood vessel constriction, significantly lessens high blood pressure in the lungs of people with pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a meta-analysis of more than a dozen studies.

Pooled data also showed that the approach was associated with significant improvements in heart function and exercise capacity, further supporting its “promise as a therapeutic intervention for PH,” the researchers wrote. read more

Leading up to my heart and lung transplant in 2018, a friend asked if there were any specific activities I was looking forward to doing post-transplant. The hope was that my health would improve following the procedure. One of my very confident answers was that I was excited to begin engaging in marches and political activism.

As a woman who’s lived with rare and chronic illnesses, it’s probably not surprising that I’ve developed an interest in various aspects of political policy. That became more meaningful toward the end of my time with pulmonary hypertension (PH), when I was in college and starting to form my beliefs. read more

Treatments approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) may reduce by half the risk of serious complications or death in adults and adolescents who also have repaired congenital heart disease (CHD), pooled data analysis of three clinical trials shows.

This risk was similarly reduced among the whole PAH patient population who participated in the trials and given either Uptravi (selexipag), Opsumit (macitentan), or Tracleer (bosentan). All three therapies are marketed by Johnson & Johnson, which funded the analysis. read more

Corvista Health’s point-of-care device, which can be used to predict pulmonary hypertension in a noninvasive way, also appears to work well at identifying heart failure, accurately detecting patients who have it while ruling it out in others, a study found.

Using machine learning to decode data from patients, the Corvista System accurately detected elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, or PCWP — an indirect measure of pressure in the heart’s left top chamber, which receives oxygen-rich blood from the lungs. read more

The advocacy organization Phaware is launching a series of podcasts to explore new advances in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD).

The series will be launched as part of “I’m Aware That I’m Rare: the phaware podcast,” which can be found online and on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube Music. The first episode of the PH-ILD series will premiere on April 7, with new ones dropping every Monday.

“These episodes [represent] a pivotal moment for the PH-ILD community,” Steve Van Wormer, cofounder of Phaware and executive producer of the “I’m Aware That I’m Rare” podcast, said in a press release from the nonprofit. read more

Treatment with the approved therapy Winrevair (sotatercept-csrk) significantly reduced the risk of death, lung transplant, or hospitalization in people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), according to results from the Phase 3 ZENITH clinical trial.

Findings were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, in the study, “Sotatercept in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension at High Risk for Death.” The results were simultaneously presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session and Expo. The work was funded by Merck, the company that sells Winrevair. read more

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to soon issue a final determination on Yutrepia, an inhaled dry powder formulation of treprostinil, up for approval to treat both pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

The FDA granted Yutrepia tentative approval for PH-ILD last year and for PAH in 2021. These tentative approvals meant that the FDA judged that Yutrepia met all criteria for quality, safety, and efficacy, but the therapy was not able to be brought to market. read more

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with an increased risk for sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea, and structural brain changes at the genetic level, according to a recent study.

These findings may help “develop new guidelines for the clinical management, personalized diagnosis, and treatment of PH, sleep disorder diseases, and their associated neurological comorbidities [coexisting disorders],” researchers wrote.

The study, “Triangular Causality Among Pulmonary Hypertension, Sleep Disorders, and Brain Structure at the Genetic Level: A Mendelian Randomization Study Focused on the Lung-Brain Axis,” was published in Nature and Science of Sleep. read more

Following my heart and lung transplant in 2018, I really wanted a smartwatch. Admittedly, the dream was that I’d be using this piece of tech to track ambitious hikes and long walks. Maybe even runs. I had a very athletic vision of myself following recovery, which, of course, ended up not being my reality.

Still, I got a smartwatch, and it’s proven to be a helpful accessory in my post-transplant life. It’s just one of the many ways I rely on modern technology to keep track of my health and simplify my day-to-day activities. read more