Pulmonary arterial hypertension at its core is a disease of abnormal lung blood vessel behavior. While our currently available therapies have successfully improved the quality of life of our patients and extended their life expectancy, we still have a long way to go. PAH patients unfortunately still often face progressive symptoms over time. What is the C76 Molecule? The FDA … [Read more...]
Surgi-Center and Endoscopy Procedures in Patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
A common problem that I encounter in the office is when a patient with PAH needs to have a procedure such as colonoscopy, upper endoscopy or orthopedic surgery. For the average healthy person, these procedures represent minimal risk and can be done in outpatient endoscopy centers or at orthopedic hospitals. However, for patients with PAH or other advanced lung diseases these … [Read more...]
Recent Clinical Trial Results with Orenitram
After six years, the FREEDOM-EV clinical trial has finished and preliminary results have been released. This study included patients with PAH who were already on a single oral therapy (either a PDE 5 inhibitor or an ERA). They were then randomized to have either a placebo or Orenitram added to their regimen. Although we don’t have all of the final results, United Therapeutics … [Read more...]
Generic Adcirca is Coming!
After many years under patent protection, the generic medication Tadalafil will soon be available. What does this mean for patients? Hopefully generic Tadalafil will be much less expensive than Adcirca. We can look back at what happened with a similar medicine, Revatio, when it went generic as sildenafil. Pricing We don’t know precise pricing but we expect deep discounts … [Read more...]
Inhaled Nitric Oxide and PAH: Update
Bellerophon announced that their phase 3 clinical trial using portable nitric oxide in patients with PAH has been stopped. The trial was stopped early after an analysis of data gathered so far showed no evidence of efficacy (the inhaled medication was not effective). There did not appear to be a safety problem. This clinical trial was exciting as very low nitric oxide … [Read more...]
