Please forgive the hiatus in posting new content. When I am not caring for pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary fibrosis patients I am also an intensive care unit doctor and have been inundated caring for many thousands of patients with severe COVID. My team and I have cared for well over 8,000 patients with severe COVID during the past two years. Over the past year it has … [Read more...]
Pulmonary Hypertension and Interstitial Lung Disease
Pulmonary hypertension (elevated pressure within the blood vessels of the lungs) is organized into five groups: Group 1: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) Group 2: Pulmonary venous hypertension (due to problems on the left side of the heart) Group 3: Pulmonary hypertension due to lung disease Group 4: Pulmonary hypertension due … [Read more...]
Lung Transplantation with PAH
For Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) patients who remain very short of breath despite maximal medical therapy, lung transplantation may be an option. Maximal medical therapy usually means continuously infused therapy (Remodulin, Flolan, Veletri) and multiple oral medications. First, it is important to know that lung transplantation is not a … [Read more...]
Porto-Pulmonary Syndrome
An important cause of PAH is liver disease. Up to 5% of patients with cirrhosis (scarring in the liver) or portal hypertension (high pressure in the blood vessels of the liver) can develop PAH. All causes of cirrhosis and portal hypertension can develop PAH. Causes The most common causes of cirrhosis (scarring of the liver that leads to … [Read more...]
Major Drug Developments in PAH July 2020
In a surprising development, Complexa abruptly terminated their phase 2 study in PAH. They seem to have taken a page from Reata’s playbook. The news blindsided the PAH community and is a reminder that the development of a successful medication is a long hard road. The company did not provide much explanation. This is the second … [Read more...]