Active clinical trials for "Hypertension, Pulmonary"

The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether bosentan (Tracleer®) affects the wall thickness of the pulmonary arteries in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (iPAH) and PAH related to systemic sclerosis (PAH-SSc). The second purpose is to investigate if bosentan affects the enlargement of small vessels in the lungs in response to natural chemicals in patients with iPAH and PAH-SSc.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of automated oxygen administration (FreeO2 system) alone or with high-flow oxygen on dyspnea and exercise tolerance in people with desaturating chronic lung disease compared to fixed oxygen therapy.

This study will investigate if metformin can help people with obesity and high pressures inside their lung blood vessels. Metformin is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat diabetes, but metformin is not approved by the FDA to treat pulmonary hypertension. This study will examine whether Metformin will improve the high pressure inside lung blood vessels in people who are obese. The study will help understand the effect of metformin on pressures inside lung blood vessels.

Bosentan has been largely used in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH). It can improve exercise capacity, lower Borg dyspnoea score nad these effects are usually associated with the concomitant improvement in cardiopulmonary haemodynamics. No physiological study has so far verified the hypothesis that Bosentan may laso have an effect on the "respiratory side" of the cadio-pulmonary system (i.e. on pulmonary mechanics and work of breathing)

This is a pilot study to assess the safety and efficacy of macitentan in patients with pulmonary hypertension of sickle cell disease. This study will enroll approximately 10 subjects. Study participation for each subject will last approximately 24 weeks from screening to end of treatment follow-up.

The purpose of this research study is to perfect the technique of EVLP and learn about the safety of transplanting lungs that have been ventilated (attached to a breathing machine or ventilator to deliver oxygen) and perfused with a lung perfusion solution (Steen solution™, made by Vitrolife). This ventilation and perfusion will be done outside the body (ex-vivo) in a modified cardiopulmonary bypass circuit (the kind of device used routinely during most heart surgeries). The purpose of performing ex-vivo lung perfusion and ventilation (EVLP) is to learn how well the lungs work, and whether they are likely safe to transplant.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a chronic lung disease that affects up to 35% of very low birth weight infants (VLBW < 1500 g). Based on the current numbers of VLBW infants born annually in the U.S., between 5,000-10,000 neonates will develop BPD each year. It is estimated that 8-42% of infants with BPD will develop pulmonary hypertension (PH). Moreover, it has been known since the 1980's that echocardiographic evidence of PH in infants with BPD is associated with up to 40% mortality. Treatment options to ameliorate PH in infants with BPD (BPD-PH) are limited. There have been no randomized clinical trials of any therapy in infants with BPD-PH. The standard care for the management of BPD-PH is to attempt to resolve the underlying lung disorder and the judicious use of oxygen as a potent pulmonary vasodilator. Using this management approach, which has not changed since the 1980's, the survival rates for infants with BPD-PH in the 2000's has been reported to be 64% at 6 months and 53% at 2 years after diagnosis of PH. The lack of improvement in outcomes for the past 3 decades has led to the widespread agreement that novel and effective therapies are desperately needed for infants with BPD-PH. The goal is to develop oral L-citrulline clinically for the treatment of pediatric pulmonary hypertension associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD-PH); before pursuing a large scale treatment trial, pharmacokinetic (PK) dose-finding, tolerability studies in patients at high risk of developing BPD-PH are warranted. The hypothesis is that oral L-citrulline will be well tolerated, without significant adverse effects in infants at high risk of developing pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with BPD. The investigators propose to first characterize the PK profile of oral L-citrulline in order to define an appropriate dose range and treatment interval for infants at high risk of developing BPD-PH. Then using the doses and intervals generated by the PK profile, with a maximum dose of 3 g/kg/d, the investigators propose to evaluate the tolerability and ability to achieve the target study drug level (100-150 micromolar) in babies treated for 72 hours with oral L-citrulline. These studies will provide the data needed to design a full-scale randomized multi-center trial to evaluate the efficacy of oral L-citrulline therapy to ameliorate BPD-PH in human infants, a patient population that has a desperate need of new therapies.

Estimate the effect of chronic beta-adrenergic receptor blockade with carvedilol on RV function in patients with PAH. Assess the safety and tolerability of chronic carvedilol therapy in patients with PAH

Chronic pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with impaired exercise capacity, quality of life and right ventricular function. The disease is characterized by an increase of pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure, leading to right heart insufficiency. Despite optimized combination-medical therapy most patients remain symptomatic, have reduced exercise capacity, quality of life and reduced survival rates, with an annual mortality rate of approximately 5 -15 % or even higher. Previous training studies have suggested that exercise training as add-on to medical treatment is highly effective improving exercise capacity, quality of life and symptoms. The current guidelines recommend exercise training only in specialized centres including both PH and rehabilitation specialists who are experienced in exercise training of severely compromised patients. A specialized PH-training program has been performed in Heidelberg since 2003 including >1200 patients with various forms of chronic PH. The exercise training program is performed in a special setting with an in-hospital start of the rehabilitation program. It is characterized by a low-dose closely supervised exercise training in small groups with additional psychological support and mental training. This training program for patients with PH will be implemented in European centers to add exercise training to the existing PH therapies. The effect of the training on physical exercise capacity will be assessed by 6-minute walking distance (6-MWD). Further clinical parameters will be assessed to evaluate the effect on exercise capacity, quality of life and symptoms. The aim of this study is to guide European PH-centers to become specialized centers for training in PH. 126 patients will be included, who either receive exercise training or continue their daily sedentary life style (1:1 randomization) for 15 weeks. As inpatient settings are not available in all healthcare systems the training program will be adapted from the specific training program for PH patients developed in Heidelberg to a procedure, which is feasible in the local participating centres. Another objective of this study is to assess if the particular adopted training program specified for each participating centre and country is still safe and effective.

In univentricular hearts, selective lung vasodilators such as phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors would decrease pulmonary resistance and improve exercise tolerance. However, the level of evidence for the use of PDE5 inhibitors in patients with a single ventricle (SV) remains limited. the investigators present the SV-INHIBITION study rationale, design and methods.The SV-INHIBITION trial is a nationwide multicentre, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled, phase III study, aiming to evaluate the efficacy of sildenafil on the ventilatory efficiency during exercise, in teenagers and adult patients (>15 y.o.) with a SV. Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) > 15 mmHg and trans-pulmonary gradient > 5 mmHg) measured by cardiac catheterisation, will be eligible. The primary outcome is the variation of the VE/VCO2 slope, measured by a cardiopulmonary exercise test, between baseline and 6 months of treatment. A total of 50 patients are required to observe a decrease of 5 ± 5 points in the VE/VCO2 slope, with a power of 90% power and an alpha risk of 5%. The secondary outcomes are: clinical outcomes, 6 minute walk test, SV function, NT Pro BNP, VO2max, stroke volume, mPAP, trans-pulmonary gradient, SF36 quality of life score, safety and acceptability. This study aims to answer the question whether PDE5 inhibitors should be prescribed in patients with a SV. This trial has been built focusing on the 3 levels of research defined by the WHO: disability (exercise tolerance), deficit (SV function), and handicap (quality of life).