Active clinical trials for "Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension"

The purpose of this study is to assess the predictive performance of the pulmonary vascular reactivity to acetylcholine, in the presence pulmonary arterial hypertension (estimated 1 year after the closure of the shunt).

Sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) is a water-soluble derivative of tanshinone IIA isolated as the main pharmacologically active natural compound from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine,the dried root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge known as Danshen. Danshen has been known for the function of improving body functions such as activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis according to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine. Danshen and its various formula products including STS have been long-time widely used in oriental countries, especially China to treat various inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases for its pharmacological actions, including vasodilatation, anticoagulation, anti-inflammation, and free radical scavenging,with negligible adverse effects observed. The investigator's objective is to evaluate whether STS exhibits beneficial effects on pulmonary hypertension. This is a randomized, controlled, multicentre clinical trial study. 90 patients with pulmonary hypertension will be enrolled in this study.

Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) suffer from breathlessness, poor quality of life and inability to function, despite medical therapy Current consensus states that combination therapy with different classes of PAH-specific therapy is likely to bring additional benefit to PAH patients. In this study we plan to study how exercise performance changes when the phosphodiesterase inhibitor vardenafil is added to patients who remain symptomatic from PAH when treated with inhaled iloprost. Following baseline assessment, all Patients will start vardenafil 10 mg bid. If the drug is tolerated by the patients, after a two week period, up titration to 20 mg bid will be permitted, at the discretion of the investigators. According to treatment protocol up titration will be done carefully and whenever side effects will be reported up titration will be stopped or dosage will be decreased or stopped according to the investigator judgment. Systemic BP will be measured at baseline assessment. The patient will attend the clinic for the first dose monitoring (10 mg) and after up titration of the study drug to 20 mg. Systemic BP will be measured at baseline assessment. The patient will attend the clinic for the first dose monitoring (10 mg) and after up titration of the study drug to 20 mg. A fall in SBP of>30 mmHg will be considered significant or any smaller value at the discretion of the investigator. BP will be measured according to the following protocol. Pre-dose Immediately before administration of vardenafil. This will be timed approximately one hour prior to the next planned dose of iloprost. Pre-inhalation One hour post vardenafil dose, immediately prior to iloprost inhalation. Post-inhalation Immediately following completion of iloprost inhalation and every fifteen minutes for one hour. Prior to discharge Two hours following the iloprost. Later monitoring At all follow-up visits, BP will be measured. This is an open-label study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of adding higher doses of vardenafil to inhaled iloprost over 3 months.

In this study positron emission tomography (PET/CT) imaging will be used to evaluate evaluation of estrogen receptor heterogeneity and functionality in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) using the investigational radiotracer [18F]fluoroestradiol (FES).

Experimental data suggest that transplantation of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) attenuates monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension in rats and dogs. In addition, clinical studies suggest that autogolous progenitor cells transplantation is feasible and safe in patients with ischemic disease. This study will investigate the feasibility, safety, and initial clinical outcome of intravenous infusion of autologous EPCs in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the long-term safety of LIQ861 in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

In pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), progressive pulmonary vascular remodeling leads to supraphysiologic right ventricular (RV) afterload. Pharmacologic trials have shown that aggressive upfront treatment reversing pulmonary vascular remodeling successfully increases RV function and improves survival. To date, however, there are no proven treatments that target RV contractile function. Echocardiographic studies of RV dysfunction in the setting of pressure overload have demonstrated intra and interventricular dyssynchrony even in the absence of overt right bundle branch block (RBBB). Electrophysiologic studies of patients with chronic thromboembolic disease (CTEPH) at the time of pulmonary endarterectomy have shown prolongation of action potential and slowed conduction in the right ventricle which has correlated with echocardiographic measures of dyssynchrony. Cardiac MRI measures of RV strain in patients with PAH demonstrated simultaneous initiation of RV and left ventricular (LV) contraction, but delayed peak RV strain suggesting that interventricular dyssynchrony is a mechanical rather than electrical phenomenon. Prior studies of RV dysfunction in an animal model, computer model, congenital heart disease, and CTEPH have suggested acute hemodynamic benefits of RV pacing. However, RV pacing has not been studied in patients with PAH. Furthermore, it remains unclear if pacing particular regions of the RV can achieve a hemodynamic benefit and what cost this hemodynamic improvement may incur with regards to myocardial energetics and wall stress. Therefore, the investigators propose to examine RV electrical activation in PAH, map the area of latest activation, and then evaluate the hemodynamic and energetic effects of RV pacing in these patients.

Although there has been some progress in pharmacological management of PAH, limited functional capacity and low survival still persist, but there is evidence that exercise training can be accomplished without adverse effects or damage to cardiac function and pulmonary hemodynamics. Specifically, improvements in symptoms, exercise capacity, peripheral muscle function and quality of life. Training programs need to be better studied and well defined, and their physiological effects during physical training and functional capacity. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of different training exercises on physical performance indicators.

Study Rationale:There is recent evidence that HIV protease inhibitors (HIV-PI) can improve pulmonary hemodynamics in experimental models of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). There is also experimental evidence that both TLR4 and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) participate in the pathogenesis of experimental pulmonary hypertension. A recent high throughput screen for inhibitors of HMGB1 induced macrophage activation yielded HIV-protease inhibitors (PIs) as potent inhibitors of HMGB1 induced cytokine production. Based on the experimental evidence we propose a trial to determine whether HIV-PIs will alter the pathobiology of PAH. Study Objectives:The main objective of this study is to determine whether saquinavir and ritonavir (SQV+RIT) which have a well-characterized safety profile in humans will reduce bio markers of inflammation and pulmonary artery pressures in patients with PAH. Study Hypothesis:We hypothesize that the HIV-PI, SQV+RIT, will reduce circulating parameters of inflammation including HMGB1, IL1-beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-alpha and CRP. Our end points will be changes in these parameters from baseline over the duration of the study.We hypothesize that treatment with SQV+RIT will reduce pulmonary artery(PA) pressure of patients with PAH as measured by echocardiography. Study Design:This is a single center open label phase 0 study to evaluate the effect of SQV +RIT in patients with IPAH. Subjects with IPAH(N=20) will be enrolled into a study, which will be divided into 3 cohorts and entail the administration of HIV protease inhibitors in three doses. The first cohort (n=3) will receive a starting dose of SQV 0.3 mg/kg twice daily in combination with RIT 0.03 mg/kg twice daily. If the first dose is well-tolerated, the second cohort (n= 3 ) with IPAH will be given doses of SQV 3 mg/kg and RIT 0.3 mg/kg twice daily. If the second dose is well-tolerated, the last cohort (n= 14 ) with IPAH will be given doses of SQV 15 mg/kg and RIT 1.5 mg/kg twice daily.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a disease characterised with significant morbidity and poor prognosis. Dyspnoea and impaired exercise capacity are very common manifestations of the disease, and result in significant impairment of patients' quality of life. Although hypoxemia is common among subjects with PAH, published data on the effects of supplementary oxygen therapy on specific clinical outcomes among these patients are currently few, while the existing data on the potential benefits of oxygen supplementation to treat exercise-induced hypoxemia, in this patient population, are even more controversial. Based on the aforementioned, the purpose of this prospective, crossover clinical trial is to investigate the acute effects of supplemental oxygen administration on the: a) exercise capacity, b) severity of dyspnea, c) cerebral oxygenation, b) muscle oxygenation, and e) hemodynamic profile, as compared to delivery of medical air (sham oxygen), in a group of patients with PAH, during steady state cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)