View clinical trials related to Pulmonary Hypertension.
Filter by:To determine sleep disturbance, pulmonary function test, 6 minute walk, echocardiogram abnormality, arterial blood gas, ventilation/perfusion scan of the chest in Scleroderma patient with Pulmonary Hypertension.
The investigators believe that iloprost will improve gas exchange in COPD patients with pulmonary hypertension.
This study, conducted by NIH, the University of Bamako in Mali, Africa, and Tulane University will examine the relationships between hemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells), nitric oxide (a gas important in regulating blood vessel dilation and blood flow) and pulmonary hypertension in patients with malaria. Malaria is among the leading causes of death in many of the world s poorest countries. It is caused by a parasite that is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. Malian children ages 1-5 years are eligible for participation in this study. They include children with asymptomatic infection, uncomplicated disease, and severe disease. Uninfected controls are also included. Upon enrollment, participants have a medical history and physical examination, echocardiogram (ultrasound test of heart function) and blood tests. In addition, all participants (infected children and controls) have repeat evaluations when healthy, approximately 7 to10 days following successful therapy.
In addition to being effective vasodilators, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) exert neurohumoral inhibitory actions, such as the inhibition of vascular remodeling and smooth muscle cell proliferation and the amelioration of endothelial dysfunction. These beneficial effects, render those agents appropriate for use in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. However, data regarding the use of ACEIs or ARBs in the treatment of PHT are limited. In this study, efficacy of an ARB, losartan was compared with those of the calcium channel blocker, nifedipine in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension using echocardiographic, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), cardiopulmonary exercise test, and endothelin-1 levels.Losartan is as effective as nifedipine for reducing Doppler echocardiographically measured PAP and improving exercise capacity on 6MWT and CPET. However the short-term use of losartan or nifedipine had no statistically significant effect on endothelin-1 levels in patients with PHT.
The study will look at the risk factors for pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) in children and adolescents with sickle cell anemia (SCA) and examine the role of hypoxia (oxygen shortage) in the disease. In patients with SCA, red blood cells become sickle-shaped and tend to form clumps that get stuck in blood vessels, blocking blood flow to the limbs and organs. Blocked blood vessels can cause pain, serious infections, and organ damage. Many patients with SCA also develop pulmonary hypertension. Children and adolescents with SCA or Chuvash polycythemia (another blood disorder that carries an increased risk for pulmonary hypertension) may be eligible for this study. Participants undergo the following procedures at the beginning (baseline) and end of the study: - History, physical examination and blood tests . - Echocardiography (ultrasound study of heart function). - Transcranial doppler (brain ultrasound study to measure brain blood flow). - Lung function tests. - 6-minute walk (measure of the distance covered in 6 minutes of walking). In addition, patients are followed by telephone or by clinic visits every 6 months for a review of their medical history and medications. A physical examination is also done at 12 months.
This study will examine whether the drug sildenafil can lower blood pressure in the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that leads from the heart to the lungs) in patients with sickle cell disease and pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs). It will see if this treatment can reduce disease complications, such as shortness of breath, pain crisis, pneumonia, and increase survival. Patients 12 years of age and older with sickle cell disease and pulmonary hypertension may be eligible for this study. Participants are randomly assigned to receive sildenafil or placebo (sugar pill) for 16 weeks. Before starting treatment, patients have baseline studies, including a pregnancy test for females of childbearing age; a chest x-ray; pulmonary function tests to measure how much air the patient can breathe in and out; an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound); a 6-minute walk test to measure exercise capacity; a quality-of-life assessment and a pain inventory. Patients with moderate to severe pulmonary hypertension undergo heart catheterization to evaluate the severity of hypertension before beginning sildenafil therapy. During treatment, patients are monitored with the following: - Blood tests: weeks 6, 10 and 16. - Echocardiogram: weeks 6 and 16. - 6-minute walk test: weeks 6, 10 and 16. - Measurements of weight, blood pressure and heart rate: weeks 6, 10 and 16. - Pregnancy test for women of childbearing age: weeks 6, 10 and 16. - Pain questionnaire once a day for a week: weeks 6 and 1.0 - Quality-of-life questionnaire: week 16. - Heart catheterization: week 16 for patients with moderate to severe hypertension. At the end of the 16-week period, patients may opt to continue to receive sildenafil and monitoring in an open-label phase of the study for up to 1 year.
Sildenafil is a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor that has been approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension with orphan drug designation. Sildenafil modulates the nitric oxide (NO) pathway in the vessel wall. Since this pathway is impaired in pulmonary arteries of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we hypothesized that sildenafil might improve pulmonary hemodynamics and increase exercise tolerance in this condition. However, in COPD sildenafil may also impair gas exchange due to the inhibition of pulmonary hypoxic vasoconstriction. The research project is aimed to evaluate these effects. It is a prospective, randomized, double-blind study to evaluate the acute effects of a single dose of 20 or 40 mg of sildenafil on gas exchange and pulmonary hemodynamics. Subjects: 20 patients (10 in each group). Measurements: pulmonary hemodynamics, arterial blood gasses and ventilation-perfusion distributions; at rest and during sub-maximal exercise.
In Patients with rheumatic disease exercise training is a well established element of therapy. In contrast patients with severe pulmonary hypertension are advised to avoid physical exertion and must not perform exercise training. This study aims to evaluate the effectivity and safety of a low-dose training program in patients with pulmonary hypertension and rheumatic disease.
Severe CTEPH leads to an impaired physical capacity and a restricted quality of life and poor prognosis. Pulmonary endarterectomy represents the best choice as therapy, when the thrombi are located in the central pulmonary vessels and therefore can be operated. By this operation the pulmonary artery pressure can be normalised and the patients' survival improved. Up to now, after successful endarterectomy patients only receive anticoagulation. Despite operation many patients remain symptomatic and are restricted in their physical capacity. Therefore a hypothesis of this project is that most of the patients, even after successful operation, show peripheral vascular remodelling with a ventilation-perfusion mismatch and elevated pulmonary pressure during exercise. In this study we aim to analyse how many patients with CTEPH after endarterectomy show elevated pulmonary artery pressures at rest or during exercise and are limited in their physical capacity, hemodynamics, oxygen uptake and quality of life and need further therapy. Another aim is to examine whether exercise and respiratory therapy may improve the patients postoperatively. Therefore 30 patients with CTEPH > six months after endarterectomy, with ongoing restricted exercise capacity shall be included. After baseline examination in the University hospital Heidelberg the patients receive exercise and respiratory therapy for three weeks. The patients will receive further examinations at the end of rehabilitation after 3 weeks and after 15 weeks. All examinations include medical history, family history, physical examination, ECG and echocardiography at rest and during exercise, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, assessment of the respiratory muscle strength, the SF-36 questionnaire for quality of life, laboratory testing and MRI. Rehabilitation will be conducted in the clinic for rehabilitation Koenigstuhl, Heidelberg. Participants will be randomised into two groups, a control group receiving a conventional therapy for three weeks, in which physical exertion is to be avoided and a training group with additional exercise and respiratory therapy.
A Comparison of Safety and Inhalation Times of Ventavis (iloprost) Inhalation Solution delivered by I-Neb Utilizing Power Disc-6 and Power Disc-15 "Power 15 Study"