In a recent study analyzing 1,130 patients with PAH who were enrolled in one of the original clinical trials of endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs), it was found that there were distinct response to treatment between men and women and patients of different race. Read article

Study findings published in the Journal of Perinatology...

Birth weight for gestational age is an important predictor of pulmonary hypertension in premature infants with moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Our findings contribute to the growing evidence supporting fetal mechanisms of later onset pulmonary vascular disease. Read more

Study findings in PubMed.gov...

The serum level of uric acid correlates significantly with patient conditions and prognosis in IPAH. And a higher serum level of uric acid predicts worse conditions and prognosis. Read more

Investigators have uncovered a new clue to the cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension, a progressive and frequently lethal disease that in many cases arises mysteriously. A report published in June 2012 describes findings suggesting that bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells play a role in causing the vascular injury in the lung that underlies the disease.

This study was released by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) on a list of their top research findings of 2012. Read More

(Doctors Lounge) - Gregory T. Armstrong, MD, of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional assessment involving 498 adult survivors of childhood cancer to examine the prevalence of pulmonary hypertension, a late effect of cancer therapy. Read article

(Medical Xpress) - Impairment of a key signaling cascade in the pulmonary blood vessels plays an important role in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a Yale study has found.

Recent studies have described the role of the gene apelin in the signaling process that maintains normal pulmonary vascular function. Apelin levels have been found to be significantly reduced in patients with PAH. Read article

(PharmPro) - Actelion announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the company's filing seeking approval of Opsumit (macitentan) for the treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Read article

(7thSpace Interactive) - Stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) is a newly discovered Ca2+ sensor on the endoplasmic reticulum which is an indispensable part in the activation of store-operated Ca2+ channels (SOC). Recent studies demonstrate that SOC of pulmonary smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) were upregulated by chronic hypoxia which contribute to the enhanced pulmonary vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling. Read article

(Herald Online) - Bayer HealthCare announced today that data on its investigational pulmonary hypertension compound riociguat (BAY 63-2521) will be presented in a scientific forum at the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) annual meeting October 20 – 25, in Atlanta, GA.  Data from two pivotal, Phase III trials researching riociguat in patients with for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) will be presented as late-breaking abstracts in oral presentation sessions. Read article

(Reuters) - Actelion today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for macitentan (Opsumit®) for the treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Read article

(The University of Sheffield News) - For the first time scientists have found an antibody treatment that not only stops PAH getting worse, but also reverses the condition in mice and rats. The research was funded by the British Heart Foundation and the Medical Research Council (MRC) and is published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Read article

In a study of 17-Beta Estradiol (E2) and its effects in hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (HPH), results indicate that in an environment characterized by low oxygen concentrations, E2 may exert beneficial effects on the pulmonary artery and right ventricle.  Read more

(News-Medical.Net) - Research presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology in Prague, Czech Republic, suggests that inhibition of the SMAD protein may be a viable therapeutic target in scleroderma patients. Read article

The FDA has issued a decision regarding sildenafil (Revatio) for pediatric usage.  More information can be found in FDA's Medwatch and Pfizer's statements (PDF)

In addition, PHA's Scientific Leadership Council will be releasing a statement in the near future.

(Medpage Today) - Of patients with systemic hypertension but preserved ejection fraction, those with pulmonary hypertension tended to be older and female, a retrospective study found. 72% of the patients with PH were women compared with 49% of those without PH, reported Monica Mukherjee, MD, from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and colleagues. Moreover, the mean age of those with PH was 77, compared with 64 in those without PH, according to Mukherjee's presentation at the American Society of Echocardiography meeting. Read article

(Market Watch) - Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved their supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for second generation VELETRI, for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) (WHO Group 1) to improve exercise capacity. Read article

(Sys-Con Media) - VentriPoint Diagnostics Ltd. is pleased to announce that Mayo Clinic has joined its multi-centre clinical trial to evaluate the use of an ultrasound diagnostic tool (the VMS(TM) heart analysis system) for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Robert Frantz, M.D., a consultant in the Cardiovascular Division and Associate Professor of Medicine, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic is the lead investigator for the clinical trial site in Rochester, MN. Read article

(Science Codex) - Inhibition of pre-B Cell Colony-Enhancing Factor (PBEF) could be a potential therapeutic target for pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a preclinical study in an animal model of PH. Read article

(Canada Newswire) - Mylan Inc. today announced that its Canadian subsidiary, Mylan Pharmaceuticals ULC, has received approval from Health Canada for Mylan-Bosentan Tablets, 62.5 mg and 125 mg. Mylan-Bosentan is the generic version of Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd.'s Tracleer®, used for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. "Providing Canadians access to high quality, affordable medicines is our primary goal," said Dick Guest, Mylan Canada's President and CEO. "By providing access to more affordable generic drugs, Mylan helps to reduce the burden on our health care system, benefiting all Canadians." Read article

(Scleroderma Foundation) - A member of the Scleroderma Foundation's Board of Directors has led a team of researchers who have identified a peptide that can block fibrosis of the skin and lungs, according to a report published today. "Lung fibrosis currently is the number one cause of death in patients with scleroderma," said the report's senior author Carol A. Feghali-Bostwick, Ph.D. "Identifying a way to stop this process from happening could have enormous impact on mortality and quality of life." Read article

5/16/2012 (Internal Medicine News) - The presence of specific autoantibodies may help to predict which patients with systemic sclerosis are likely to develop cancer within a few years of their diagnosis, according to the findings of a U.K.-based registry study. Read article

(BMJ Open) - Funded by Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK, objectives of this study were to investigate the patient's experience of the trajectory to receiving a diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and inform the provision of care for this patient group. Participants were interviewed in their own homes across England.

Conclusions: Limited awareness of PAH outside specialist centres leads to misdiagnosis, delays in treatment and an increasing sense of anger, frustration and confusion for many patients. Repeated tests and visits to numerous medical professionals, including GPs and cardiac or respiratory consultants over a number of years, represents a significant use of resources and consequent cost to the NHS. Read Article

(EurekAlert) - A new analysis finds that compared to Caucasians, African-Americans with systemic scleroderma have more antibodies in the blood that are linked to severe complications and an increased likelihood of death. They say this finding, published today in Arthritis & Rheumatism, suggests physicians can use these disease markers to screen and treat scleroderma patients proactively. Read article

(SYS-CON Media) - VentriPoint Diagnostics today announced the commencement of the pivotal clinical trial to demonstrate that the VentriPoint heart analysis system is equivalent to cardiac MRI in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The trial will be lead by Dr. Robyn Barst. Read article

(Reuters) - Actelion announced today that initial analysis indicates that the pivotal, long-term, event-driven study SERAPHIN with macitentan, a novel dual endothelin receptor antagonist, in 742 patients suffering from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and treated for up to three and a half years, has met its primary endpoint. Read article

4/23/2012 - PHA Online University Webinar Thursday, May 10, 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT
In this webinar, Tim Lahm, MD, from Roudenbush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, Ind., will discuss his recent research involving 17-Beta Estradiol and the role it plays in tempering hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.
Register now

4/19/2012 - (Castanet) - Canada’s international scientific expedition to Mount Everest is preparing to depart for Nepal on Sunday April 22. Everest 2012, a six-week, six-country research investigation into the effects of heart and brain blood flow and oxygen deprivation at high altitudes, will settle into the Pyramid Laboratory near Everest base camp for a six-week stay through the end of May. Expedition members will themselves be the test subjects for the experiments. Some experiments, like one measuring pulmonary arterial hypertension, involves invasive minor surgery to place arteriovenous shunts in wrist and neck arteries to measure acute hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) following ascent to high altitude. Read article | Follow the Everest expedition

(Yahoo Finance) - New data presented today studied the safety of the GeNO  system for delivering inhaled nitric oxide (NO) to patients being evaluated for cardiac transplant. The study evaluated 10 heart failure patients who underwent RHC prior to cardiac transplant or LVAD implant. Read article

(DoctorsLounge) - Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a strong independent predictor of heart failure in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), according to a study published in the May 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. Read article

(News-Medical) - Pulmonary embolism is estimated to cause over 100,000 deaths each year in the U.S. Although thrombolytics, or "clot-buster" drugs, are currently reserved to treat only the most severe cases of pulmonary embolism, new data suggest that when used at lower doses, these drugs are also safe and effective for more common, moderate cases of pulmonary embolism, according to research presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session. Read article

1/20/2012 (Vanderbilt University Medical Center) - Studies that started as part of an exploratory collaboration for Judy Aschner, M.D., took an unexpected turn and have led to a whole new understanding of how nitric oxide — an important signaling molecule in the body — is produced. “I think we’re on the cusp of something that could change the face of how we treat infants at risk for chronic lung disease or with chronic forms of pulmonary hypertension,” Aschner said. Read article

1/11/2012 (Doctors Lounge) - An analysis of data from the Tracking Outcomes and Practice in Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension registry has identified clinical features specific to the care of children with pulmonary hypertension, according to research published online Jan. 11 in The Lancet. Read article

11/18/2011 (EurekAlert) - Heart rate recovery at one minute after a six-minute walking distance (6MWD) test is highly predictive of clinical worsening and time to clinical worsening in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), according to a new study. Read article

11/4/2011 (URMC) - URMC doctor R. James White, M.D., Ph.D., helps establish new guidelines for treating pulmonary hypertension and venous thromboembolism. Watch the video

10/29/2011 (KyForward) - The patient “feels like a miracle,” after surgeons at UK HealthCare recently became the first ever to perform two specific procedures together as a bridge to lung transplantation. Read article

10/24/2011 (Doctors Lounge) - Medium doses of sildenafil may be beneficial for children with pulmonary artery hypertension, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held from from Oct. 22 to 26 in Honolulu. Read article

10/11/2011 (FDA) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning the public that the leukemia drug Sprycel (dasatinib) may increase the risk of a rare, but serious condition in which there is abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs (pulmonary arterial hypertension [PAH]). Information about this risk has been added to the Warnings and Precautions section of the Sprycel drug label. Read article

(MedPage Today) - During pulmonary endarterectomy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, continuously maintaining brain perfusion provides no advantage in cognitive function compared with periods of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest of up to 20 minutes, a randomized trial showed. Read article

9/27/2011 (Penn Medicine) - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients of different sexes and races may respond differently to treatment with commonly used medications for the disease, says a new study from researchers at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results of the study are published online ahead of print in the journal CHEST. Read article

9/23/2011 (Heartzine) - In a study published by the journal Heart, researchers based in China led by Professor Zhi-Cheng Jing of Tongji University School of Medicine report that over a 12 month period, sildenafil treatment (oral administration) for those with Eisenmenger syndrome (a shunt-related congenital heart defect which leads to PH) was both well tolerated and appeared to improve key performance measures. Read article

9/26/2011 (Pipeline Review) - Novartis announced new data today from the pivotal Phase III IMPRES clinical trial showing that the investigational therapy QTI571 (imatinib) significantly improved exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) after 24 weeks compared with placebo(1). Evidence indicates that QTI571 targets an underlying cause of PAH by counteracting uncontrolled growth of arterial smooth muscle cells(2). Read article

9/15/2011 (eurekalert) - UCLA researchers have found that the hormone estrogen may help reverse advanced pulmonary hypertension. Published in the Sept. 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the preclinical study shows that in rats, estrogen treatment can reverse the progression of pulmonary hypertension to heart failure and can restore lung and ventricle structure and function. Read article

8/26/2011 (Univ. of Wisconsin) - Funded by a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Naomi Chesler, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at UW-Madison, will investigate the relationships between small artery narrowing, large artery stiffening and their interactions with the right side of the heart in patients with PAH. Read article

8/24/11 (Metro Business Media) - United Therapeutics Corporation released its FREEDOM-C(2) Phase 3 clinical trial results today but the company announced that the study did not meet its primary endpoint. Oral treprostinil (treprostinil diethanolamine) is next in the pipeline of drugs to treat PAH. United Therapeutics said that the tablet form of treatment for PAH did not post any statistical significance in the FREEDOM-C(2) trial. Read article

8/11/11 (stltoday.com) - A recent study has shown that pulmonary hypertension, or abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs, affects about four times as many women as men in the United States. One of the most alarming findings of the study is that those with the disease were likely diagnosed many months after the first sign of symptoms. Read article by PHCR member Dr. Neil Ettinger

8/15/11 (spectroscopyNOW.com) - It is now 30 years since toxic oil syndrome struck in Spain with devastating consequences. It is a food-borne disease that is estimated to have killed at least 2500 people with thousands more affected to this day with different degrees of disability. There was a swathe of acute symptoms which developed into chronic conditions such as motor neuropathy, musculoskeletal pain, sclerodermia, pulmonary hypertension, liver impairment, hypothyroidism and diabetes mellitus. Read article

8/17/11 (Forbes) - Much of the controversy revolves around the relative weight given to echocardiography and natriuretic peptides in the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure. The updated NICE guidelines recommend that for the diagnosis of heart failure in patients with no history of MI, echocardiography should be used only if natriuretic peptides are raised. Peterson and Rumsfeld point out that both the ESC and ACC/AHA guidelines recommend that all patients with the signs and symptoms of heart failure should have an echocardiogram. The NICE position, they say, “may be questioned because of the utility of echocardiography for not only measuring left ventricular function but also for detecting structural or valvular heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, and pericardial effusion.” Read article

An interdisciplinary group of researchers from Boston have developed a microfluidic device that can test for the number of beneficial circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in the blood stream of patients with cardiovascular disease. The number of EPCs in the blood can be used as a biomarker for risk assessment, disease progression and the response to therapy.  Up to now, the measurement of EPCs in the bloodstream was very difficult and laborious and therefore, not very useful to physicians working with PH Patients at the bedside.

Dr. Hansmann and colleagues have attended the research room at PHA’s 2010 International Conference to apply the so called "EPC Capture Chip"  in over 40 patients with PAH. They found the EPC numbers in PAH patients to be half the number in healthy controls.  The new EPC capture chip has tremendous potential for serving as a rapid bedside tests to monitor treatment and disease progression. The research team includes: Georg Hansmann; B.D. Plouffe; A. Hatch; A. Von Gise; H. Sallmon; Roham T. Zamanin; Shashi Murthy. Read abstract

(RT Magazine) - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has provided $85 million over 5 years to nine new studies aimed at developing induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from patients with genetic variations that have been associated with pulmonary hypertension, coronary artery disease, clotting disorders, diabetes, and other conditions. The studies will build upon previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) findings and investigate how gene variants lead to the physical manifestations of these diseases. Read article

7/15/2011 (Ortho SuperSite) - A study by researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery has found patients who have a history of significant medical issues — especially congestive heart failure or pulmonary hypertension — are at increased risk for major complications following total knee arthroplasty. Read article

7/10/2011 (The Gateway) - A doctoral student at the University of Alberta has made a discovery that could lead to a cure for a disease which usually leaves approximately three years of life once diagnosed. Gopinath Sutendra has been researching pulmonary arterial hypertension, a disease characterized by excessive cancer-like growth of the cells in the pulmonary vessels of the heart, which provide blood to and from the lungs. These vessels end up getting blocked, resulting in right heart failure. Read article

6/6/2011 (Internal Medicine News) - Right ventricular mass, volume, and ejection fraction differ significantly according to patient age, sex, and race, according to a prospective imaging study of more than 4,000 healthy people that was reported in Circulation on June 6. Read article

(The Sacramento Bee) - United Therapeutics Corporation announced today the completion of its FREEDOM-M Phase 3 trial of treprostinil diethanolamine (oral treprostinil), an investigational sustained release oral formulation of treprostinil, a stable synthetic form of prostacyclin, in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).  Preliminary analysis demonstrates that the trial has met its primary endpoint. Read article

5/19/2011 (MEDPAGE Today) - Two drugs that are beneficial in heart disease were ineffective in treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a researcher said. In a randomized trial, neither aspirin nor simvastatin (Zocor) improved performance on the standard six-minute walk test, according to Steven Kawut, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues. Read article

5/9/2011 (InPharm) - The European Commission has given the green light to phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor Revatio (sildenafil) for pediatric patients. Read article

4/29/2011 (Renal & Urology News) - Pulmonary hypertension is a strong predictor of the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) after lung transplantation, according to researchers. Read article

(RT Magazine) - An open-label study demonstrated that the rapid transition from inhaled iloprost to Tyvaso® (treprostinil) was well tolerated and associated with maintenance of exercise capacity and improved quality of life in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients. Read article

4/18/2011 (Cardiology Today) - For patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a history of presyncope and syncope worsened the severity of disease, according to data from the REVEAL registry. What this indicates, according to researchers, is the importance of validating the prognosis and effect of syncope among patients with PAH as treatment guidelines continue to be defined. Read article

4/10/2011 (Eurekalert) - When muscles and organs are deprived of an adequate supply of oxygen the body's usual responses include increased circulation and a slight drop in blood pressure in the blood vessels serving the affected tissue. However, the blood vessels in the lungs react differently: blood pressure in the lungs rises, often with deleterious effects on the lungs' tissue and the heart. Larissa A. Shimoda, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., has dedicated her research to learning why this happens. Read article

Research has long been the key to unlocking PH mysteries, and each year new discoveries occur that move us further along in our understanding and treatment of PH. Dr. Yinzhong Zhang of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is doing his part to propel PH research forward. Dr. Zhang was a 2008 recipient of the PHA/American Heart Association Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award for his research project entitled “Role of Macrophage Migration Inhibiting Factor (MIF) in Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling.”

Read more

3/23/2011(Medical News Today) - GeNO LLC, a privately held, advanced development-stage technology company, announced commencement of the PHiano Study: A Phase 2, Dose-Escalation Trial for the Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in patients with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) and Pulmonary Hypertension secondary to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (PH-IPF) using Inhaled NITROSYL™ nitric oxide (NO). The first patient was successfully dosed at Creighton University School of Medicine. Read article

LONDON, 3/17/2011(PharmaLive) -  On 17 March 2011 the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion recommending a variation to the terms of the marketing authorisation for the medicinal product Revatio. The marketing authorisation holder for this medicinal product is Pfizer Ltd. Read article

3/9/2011 (MedPage Today) - Sildenafil (Viagra) may also help treat Raynaud's phenomenon. In a small randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trial, the drug led to a significant percentage reduction in the number of weekly attacks of Raynaud's phenomenon, according to Ariane Herrick, MD, of the University of Manchester in England, and colleagues. Read article

3/4/2011 (PRNewswire) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that monthly liver enzyme tests are no longer required for those taking Letairis tablets (ambrisentan), used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. Citing data from clinical trials and postmarket reports, the FDA said that the drug poses only a low risk of liver injury. Information related to potential serious liver injury and the need to monitor for such serious injury is being removed from the drug's boxed warning. Read article

2/16/2011 (Cardiology Today) - Right ventricular failure in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension was linked with a reversible reduction in left ventricular free wall mass, study data suggest. Read article

2/10/2011 (The Columbus Dispatch) - As many as 2 million Americans with congestive heart failure could benefit from a pressure monitor inserted in the pulmonary artery to help doctors track early signs of trouble, according to a study published this week in the medical journal The Lancet. Read article

2/6/11 (MedPageToday) - According to a study of almost 3,000 patients at centers around the U.S., adults began treatment within two months of being diagnosed with IPAH -- compared with 11-months for the children, according to Robyn Barst, MD, of Columbia University, and colleagues. Read article

2/3/11 (MedPageToday) - Outcomes from pulmonary endarterectomy for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension are improving, despite the number of increasingly complex cases, according to a large single-center study. Read article

1/26/11 (Internal Medicine News) - Until further testing confirms or disproves the promise of an oral formulation of treprostinil that is making its way through the developmental pipeline for management of Raynaud’s phenomenon and the ischemic finger, rheumatologists will have to continue to make do with modestly efficacious agents that all are best employed in conjunction with background therapy using a long-acting calcium channel blocker titrated to the maximum tolerated dose. Read article

1/24/2011 (EurekAlert) - In an important study that may shed light on human ability to adapt to hypoxia, or inadequate levels of oxygen, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have proven that the genome of flies exposed to long-term hypoxia are changed to permanently affect gene expression. Their findings, to be published online by the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) the week of January 24, 2011, may lead to new targets for development of therapies for hypoxia-induced disease in humans. Read article

1/24/2011 (Internal Medicine News) - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a powerful risk factor for in-hospital mortality or cardiogenic shock in patients presenting with ST-elevation MI, according to a large retrospective study. The clinical inference is that the reduced cardiopulmonary reserve imposed by COPD – a disease often marked by pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction – renders the circulatory system less capable of coping with the effects of an MI, Dr. Kohei Wakabayashi said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association. Read article

1/2/11 (Medindia) - University of Michigan researchers have developed a new diagnostic tool that could help predict a fatal complication in lung transplantation patients. In the complication known as bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), scar tissue builds up in the lungs and chokes off the ability to breathe. Read article

12/16/10 (the heart.org) - The European Medicines Agency is to review the hepatotoxic profile of two other endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs) for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension following the withdrawal last week of Pfizer's ERA sitaxentan (Thelin) due to two cases of fatal liver injury linked to the drug. Read article

(Bloomberg) - Pfizer Inc. is recalling its lung drug Thelin worldwide and halting trials of the medicine after it was linked to potentially life-threatening liver damage. No new patients should be prescribed Thelin and those receiving it should be transferred to other therapies, Pfizer said in a statement today. Read article

Research has long been the key to unlocking PH mysteries, and each year new discoveries occur that move us further along in our understanding and treatment of PH. Dr. Yinzhong Zhang of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research is doing his part to propel PH research forward. Dr. Zhang was a 2008 recipient of the PHA/American Heart Association Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award for his research project entitled “Role of Macrophage Migration Inhibiting Factor (MIF) in Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling.” Learn more

12/2/10 (PR Newswire) - GeNO LLC announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared its Investigational New Drug application for a clinical trial with the GeNO NITROSYL™ (Inhaled Nitric Oxide) System for treatment of pulmonary hypertension in patients with Pulmonary Hypertension Secondary to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, (PH-IPF WHO Group 3) and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, (PAH, WHO Group 1). Read article

11/11/10 (The San Diego Union-Tribune) - An infusion of $20 million from investors and a potentially lucrative partnership with a major pharmaceutical company is breathing new life into Aires Pharmaceuticals, nearly a year after the San Diego drug developer ran out of money and essentially shut down. Aires said Thursday that Novartis had acquired the option to obtain the worldwide rights to Aironite, the company’s experimental treatment for primary pulmonary hypertension, in a deal worth up to $250 million if certain milestones are reached. Read article

11/5/10 (Medpage Today) - An increase in New York Heart Association functional class or at least 15% reduction in Six-Minute Walk Distance predicted lower likelihood of major event-free survival at two years in the REVEAL study. Read article

10/25/10 (Toronto Sun) - A Canadian researcher may have discovered a breakthrough diagnosis - even a cure - for pulmonary hypertension. New research indicates a protein, dubbed PIM-1, is high in patients with the condition. The higher the PIM-1 levels, the more severe the patient's pulmonary hypertension. Read article

(PR-USA) - Actelion today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved additional in-use conditions for administration of Veletri®, an improved formulation of epoprostenol. Dr. Vallerie McLaughlin, Professor of Medicine and Director of Pulmonary Hypertension at the University of Michigan, commented: "Patients with more advanced PAH struggle daily with debilitating symptoms, such as shortness of breath, chest pain and chronic fatigue. I expect the improved convenience of Veletri's preparation and storage flexibility to significantly benefit these patients and make a difference in their everyday life." Read article

5/4/10 (EurekAlert!) Philadelphia, Penn. - High altitude medicine is a "natural research laboratory" for the study of cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. Yves Allemann, MD, FESC, Swiss Cardiovascular Center, University Hospital, Bern, and Urs Scherrer, MD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, have assembled an international group of leading authorities to contribute to a special issue of Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases dedicated to high-altitude medicine and novel insights into disease mechanisms provided by high-altitude research.

The article by Scherrer et al demonstrates how studies at high altitude have provided important insights into fundamental mechanisms underpinning pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary edema in humans. They show how these insights have been translated into novel approaches for the treatment of patients suffering from these problems at low altitude. Finally, it provides some hints on how the natural research laboratory of high altitude may provide novel insight into cardiovascular disease mechanisms in the future.

Read full press release

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association's Washington Rep, Gavin Lindberg, sent us a report recently from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the investment made in pulmonary hypertension research with funds from the economic stimulus bill. PHA joined with the biomedical research community last year in encouraging Congress to provide an additional $10 billon to the NIH as part of the American Recovery and Investment Act (ARRA).

The NIH has been producing "ARRA Investment Reports" on diseases that benefited significantly from stimulus funding. Only a handful of rare diseases have been the subject of these investment reports and PH is one of them. Read more on PHA President Rino Aldrighetti's blog

As Dr. Robert Frantz, Jessica Lazar, PA, and Dr. Raymond Benza (pictured right in Tanzania) climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, their efforts are getting coverage in the news, raising much needed awareness about pulmonary hypertension. They have raised over $100,000 so far for PH research and patient services. Check out the latest stories:

• Doc and Assistant to Climb Mountain to Raise Money (1/23/10, The Lebanon Daily News, Pittsburgh)
• Local Doctors, Assistant to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro (2/8/10, KDKA 2 Pittsburgh)
• Mayo Doctor to Climb Mount Kilimanjaro to Understand His Patient's Symptoms (2/15/10, The Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.)
• Clinicians Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to Raise PH Awareness (2/17/10, PA Pro NOW)
• PA Leaving for Mount Kilimanjaro Climb Today (2/18/10, ADVANCE Blog for PAs)
• Healthcare Professionals Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to Raise Awareness of Serious Lung Disease (2/23/10, Fox Business)
• Doctor Readies for Kilimanjaro Climb (2/23/10, The Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.)

Read full list of news coverage | Learn more about Path to a Cure campaign | Donate

(prweb.com) – Results of a recent two-year study show promising long-term survival benefits for patients living with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Research of new treatments has focused mainly on outcomes other than survival in shorter term three-to-12 month studies. Read article