scholarly journals Epidemiology and Management of Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension in Greece. Real-World Data from the Hellenic Pulmonary Hypertension Registry (HOPE)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (19) ◽  
pp. 4547
Author(s):  
Eftychia Demerouti ◽  
Panagiotis Karyofyllis ◽  
Vassilios Voudris ◽  
Maria Boutsikou ◽  
George Anastasiadis ◽  
...  

Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) is a rare disease with poor prognosis if left untreated, characterized by pulmonary vascular bed obstruction due to unresolving thromboembolic material. The Hellenic pulmonary hypertension registry (HOPE) was launched in Greece in early 2015 and enrolls patients from all pulmonary hypertension subgroups in Greece. In total, 98 patients with CTEPH were enrolled from January 2015 until November 2019. Of these patients, 55.1% represented incident population, 50% were classified in the World Health Organization functional class II and 49% had a history of acute pulmonary embolism. The median values of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and cardiac index were 7.4 (4.8) WU and 2.4 (1.0) L/min/m2, respectively, the mean diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide was 74.8 ± 20.6%, the median 6-minute walk distance was 347 (220) meters and the median value of N Terminal-pro brain natriuretic peptide was 506.0 (1450.0) pg/mL. In total, 60.2% of the patients were under pulmonary arterial hypertension-targeted therapy at the time of enrolment; specifically, riociguat was received by 35.7% of the patients and combination therapy was the preferred strategy for 16% of the patients. In total, 74 patients were evaluated for pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA), 34 (45.9%) were assessed as operable but only 23 of those (31.1%) finally underwent PEA. The remaining 40 patients were ineligible for PEA according to the operability assessment and 13 (17.6%) of them underwent balloon pulmonary angioplasty. The age of the non-operable patients was significantly higher than the operable patients (p < 0.001), while there was no significant difference with regard to the history of coagulopathies between the operable and non-operable patients (p = 0.33).

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 204589401987715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Arvanitaki ◽  
Maria Boutsikou ◽  
Anastasia Anthi ◽  
Sotiria Apostolopoulou ◽  
Aikaterini Avgeropoulou ◽  
...  

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a heterogenous clinical entity with poor prognosis, despite recent major pharmacological advances. To increase awareness about the pathophysiology, epidemiology, and management of the disease, large national registries are required. The Hellenic pulmOnary hyPertension rEgistry (HOPE) was launched in early 2015 and enrolls patients from all pulmonary hypertension subgroups in Greece. Baseline epidemiologic, diagnostic, and initial treatment data of consecutive patients with PAH are presented in this article. In total, 231 patients with PAH were enrolled from January 2015 until April 2018. At baseline, about half of patients with PAH were in World Health Organization functional class II. The majority of patients with PAH (56.7%) were at intermediate 1-year mortality risk, while more than one-third were low-risk patients, according to an abbreviated risk stratification score. Half of patients with PAH were on monotherapy, 38.9% received combination therapy, while prostanoids were used only in 12.1% of patients. In conclusion, baseline data of the Greek PAH population share common characteristics, but also have some differences with other registries, the most prominent being a better functional capacity. This may reflect earlier diagnosis of PAH that in conjunction with the increased proportion of patients with atypical PAH could partially explain the preference for monotherapy and the limited use of prostanoids in Greece. Nevertheless, early, advanced specific therapy is strongly recommended.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 205031212110539
Author(s):  
Barbro Kjellström ◽  
Bodil Ivarsson ◽  
Lise-Lotte Landenfelt Gestré ◽  
Henrik Ryftenius ◽  
Magnus Nisell

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension are chronic diseases with a severe symptom burden. Common symptoms are dyspnoea at light activity and general fatigue that limits daily activities. Respiratory modulation by device-guided breathing decreased symptoms in patients with heart failure. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate if respiratory modulation could improve symptoms of dyspnoea in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Method: Adult patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension with symptoms of dyspnoea at rest or light activity performed home-based respiratory modulation by device-guided breathing 20 min a day for 3 months. Patients were on stable disease-specific treatment ⩾3 months and willing to undergo all study procedures. Dyspnoea score, World Health Organization class, physical status, N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide, quality of life, respiratory rate and 6-min walk distance were assessed before and after 3 months with respiratory modulation. Results: Nine patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and five with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension completed the study protocol. Mean age was 71 ± 14 years, and 11 were women. After 3 months of respiratory modulation, dyspnoea score (−0.6, p = 0.014), respiratory rate at rest (−3 breaths/min, p = 0.013), World Health Organization class (−0.3, p = 0.040), quality of life (EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale +5 points, not significant) and decreased N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (−163 ng/L, p = 0.043) had improved. The fatigue and respiratory rate after the 6-min walk decreased while the 6-min walk distance remained unchanged. Conclusion: Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension that used device-guided breathing for 3 months improved symptoms of dyspnoea and lowered the respiratory rate at rest and after exercise.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 204589402093898
Author(s):  
Nobuhiro Tanabe ◽  
Takeshi Ogo ◽  
Masaru Hatano ◽  
Ayaka Kigawa ◽  
Toshiyuki Sunaya ◽  
...  

This multicenter, prospective, non-interventional study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02117791) evaluated the safety and effectiveness of riociguat for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in Japanese clinical practice, registering all patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension treated with riociguat following its launch in Japan in April 2014. Safety was assessed by analyzing the adverse drug reactions. Effectiveness measurements included the assessment of change in World Health Organization functional class, six-minute walk test, and hemodynamics. Overall, 1031 patients were included in the safety analysis with 811 (78.7%) patients in World Health Organization functional class II/III. The mean treatment duration was 591.4 days (median 441.0 days). Adverse drug reactions were reported in 19.5% of patients, the most common being hypotension (5.9%), headache (3.0%), dizziness (1.9%), and gastroesophageal reflux disease (1.5%). Serious adverse drug reactions were reported in 2.1% of patients. Estimated survival was 97.0% at one year, 95.8% at two years, and 94.4% at three years. The effectiveness analysis ( n = 1027) showed significant increases from baseline in six-minute walking distance, and significant reductions from baseline in mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance. These interim results of riociguat in Japanese patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension demonstrated a safety profile that was generally consistent with those of pivotal clinical studies. The study is ongoing, and will continue to provide insights into the safety and effectiveness of riociguat in real-world practice.


Author(s):  
Ekkehard Grünig ◽  
Alison MacKenzie ◽  
Andrew J Peacock ◽  
Christina A Eichstaedt ◽  
Nicola Benjamin ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims This prospective, randomized, controlled, multicentre study aimed to evaluate efficacy and safety of exercise training in patients with pulmonary arterial (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Methods and results For the first time a specialized PAH/CTEPH rehabilitation programme was implemented in 11 centres across 10 European countries. Out of 129 enrolled patients, 116 patients (58 vs. 58 randomized into a training or usual care control group) on disease-targeted medication completed the study [85 female; mean age 53.6 ± 12.5 years; mean pulmonary arterial pressure 46.6 ± 15.1 mmHg; World Health Organization (WHO) functional class II 53%, III 46%; PAH n = 98; CTEPH n = 18]. Patients of the training group performed a standardized in-hospital rehabilitation with mean duration of 25 days [95% confidence interval (CI) 17–33 days], which was continued at home. The primary endpoint, change of 6-min walking distance, significantly improved by 34.1 ± 8.3 m in the training compared with the control group (95% CI, 18–51 m; P &lt; 0.0001). Exercise training was feasible, safe, and well-tolerated. Secondary endpoints showed improvements in quality of life (short-form health survey 36 mental health 7.3 ± 2.5, P = 0.004), WHO-functional class (training vs. control: improvement 9:1, worsening 4:3; χ2  P = 0.027) and peak oxygen consumption (0.9 ± 0.5 mL/min/kg, P = 0.048) compared with the control group. Conclusion This is the first multicentre and so far the largest randomized, controlled study on feasibility, safety, and efficacy of exercise training as add-on to medical therapy in PAH and CTEPH. Within this study, a standardized specialized training programme with in-hospital start was successfully established in 10 European countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 204589401878399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph B. Wiedenroth ◽  
H. Ardeschir Ghofrani ◽  
Miriam S.D. Adameit ◽  
Andreas Breithecker ◽  
Moritz Haas ◽  
...  

Riociguat is the treatment of choice for inoperable patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). We addressed here whether additional balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) provides further benefits. A prospective series of 36 consecutive patients with inoperable CTEPH were treated with riociguat at least three months before BPA. All patients underwent diagnostic workup at baseline, before BPA treatments, and six months after final intervention. The main outcome measures were pulmonary hemodynamic parameters and World Health Organization (WHO) functional class (FC). Significant improvements in pulmonary hemodynamics and physical capacity were observed for riociguat treatment, and subsequent BPA interventions yielded further benefits. With targeted medication, WHO FC improved by at least one class in 13 (36.1%) patients ( P = 0.01). Hemodynamic assessment showed significant improvements in mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) (49 ± 12 mmHg vs. 43 ± 12 mmHg; P = 0.003) and PVR (956 ± 501 dyn·s·cm–5 vs. 517 ± 279 dyn·s·cm–5; P = 0.0001). Treatment with a combination of targeted medication and BPA resulted in WHO FC improvement in 34 (94.4%) patients. Hemodynamic assessment showed significant improvement in mPAP (43 ± 12 mmHg vs. 34 ± 14 mmHg; P = 0.0001) and PVR (517 ± 279 dyn·s·cm–5 vs. 360 ± 175 dyn·s·cm–5; P = 0.0001). These findings provide, for the first time, support for the therapeutic strategy recommended by current guidelines.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. CCRPM.S696
Author(s):  
Carmelle V. Remillard ◽  
Jason X.-J. Yuan

Demographic and hemodynamic data from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) have not been systematically characterized to identify differences related to gender, age, race, disease severity, and drug response. Our goal was to define the distribution and relation of IPAH and CTEPH based on these criteria. Hemodynamic and demographic data from 242 IPAH patients and 90 CTEPH patients were collected and compared. IPAH incidence was greater in women, but men had a higher basal mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP). mPAP was comparable among all IPAH ethnic groups. IPAH patients with no history of fenfluramine-phentermine use had a higher mPAP than users. Exercise-induced IPAH was apparent in 14.5% of IPAH patients. Only 9% of IPAH patients responded to inhaled nitric oxide with a ≥20% decrease in mPAP. Compared to CTEPH patients, mPAP was greater but average age of diagnosis was lower in IPAH patients. mPAP negatively correlated with age of diagnosis in IPAH patients only. These results indicate that elevated CO is not the main determinant of mPAP in both IPAH and CTEPH patients. However, the two patient groups differ in terms of their demographic and hemodynamic distributions, and according to the correlation between mPAP and other clinical hemodynamics and demographics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Inami ◽  
M Kataoka ◽  
J Itoh ◽  
K Takeuchi ◽  
H Kikuchi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background High pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) is a risk factor for reperfusion pulmonary edema by balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA). It has not been clarified whether improvement of hemodynamics by pulmonary hypertension (PH)-targeted drugs before BPA session is effective clinically. Severe chronic Thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) patients have small vessel disease like pathological findings of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of PH-targeted drugs for patients with CTEPH before BPA. Methods This study included consecutive 147 CTEPH patients treated with PH-targeted drugs before BPA. All patients were divided into 2 groups such as severe group (PVR >12.5 wood units) and non-severe group (PVR <12.5 wood units). PVR were compared between baseline and after treated with PH-targeted drugs. All data were expressed by median [25thpercentile-75thpercentile]. Results The median age and male were 66 [53–74] years old and 42. Numbers of patients treated with phosphodiesterase V inhibitors, endothelin receptor antagonists and riociguat were 84 (57%), 92 (63%), and 43 (29%), respectively. PVR significantly decreased after treated with PH-targeted drugs in two groups (severe group: 16.3 [13.7–20.0] to 10.0 [7.2–13.3] wu, P<0.0001; non-severe group: 6.8 [4.9–8.9] to 5.7 [3.5] to 7.8, P<0.001). Changes of PVR in severe group were significantly larger than in non-severe group (−6.9 [−8.5 to −3.2] vs. −0.7 [−2.4 to 0.7], P<0.0001). There was no significant difference in efficacy of BPA and numbers of dilated vessel between two groups (severe vs. non-severe group after BPA; PVR: 2.7 [1.9–3.5] vs. 2.1 [1.7–3.1] wu, P>0.05; numbers of dilated vessel: 18 [14–21] vs. 16 [10–21], P>0.05) Conclusions PH-targeted drugs may improve hemodynamics for severe CTEPH more effectively.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (21) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuhiro Yaoita ◽  
Kimio Satoh ◽  
Taijyu Satoh ◽  
Toru Shimizu ◽  
Sakae Saito ◽  
...  

Background Although chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and acute pulmonary embolism (APE) share some clinical manifestations, a limited proportion of patients with CTEPH have a history of APE. Moreover, in histopathologic studies, it has been revealed that pulmonary vasculature lesions similar to pulmonary arterial hypertension existed in patients with CTEPH. Thus, it remains unknown whether these 3 disorders also share genetic backgrounds. Methods and Results Whole exome screening was performed with DNA isolated from 51 unrelated patients with CTEPH of Japanese ancestry. The frequency of genetic variants associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension or APE in patients with CTEPH was compared with those in the integrative Japanese Genome Variation Database 3.5KJPN. Whole exome screening analysis showed 17 049 nonsynonymous variants in patients with CTEPH. Although we found 6 nonsynonymous variants that are associated with APE in patients with CTEPH, there was no nonsynonymous variant associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Patients with CTEPH with a history of APE had nonsynonymous variants of F5 , which encodes factor V. In contrast, patients with CTEPH without a history of APE had a nonsynonymous variant of THBD , which encodes thrombomodulin. Moreover, thrombin‐activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor, which is one of the pathogenic proteins in CTEPH, was significantly more activated in those who had the variants of THBD compared with those without it. Conclusions These results provide the first evidence that patients with CTEPH have some variants associated with APE, regardless of the presence or absence of a history of APE. Furthermore, the variants might be different between patients with CTEPH with and without a history of APE.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2101694
Author(s):  
Takeshi Ogo ◽  
Hiroto Shimokawahara ◽  
Hideyuki Kinoshita ◽  
Seiichiro Sakao ◽  
Kohtaro Abe ◽  
...  

Treatment options for inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) remain limited. Selexipag, an oral selective IP prostacyclin-receptor agonist approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension, is a potential treatment option for CTEPH.In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 78 Japanese patients with inoperable CTEPH or persistent/recurrent pulmonary hypertension after pulmonary endarterectomy and/or balloon pulmonary angioplasty were randomly assigned to receive placebo or selexipag. The primary endpoint was the change in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) from baseline to week 20. The secondary endpoints were changes in other haemodynamic parameters, 6-min walk distance (6 WMD), Borg Dyspnoea Scale score, World Health Organisation (WHO) functional class, EuroQol 5 dimensions 5-level and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide.The change in PVR was −98.2±111.3 dyn·s·cm−5 and −4.6±163.6 dyn·s·cm−5 in the selexipag and placebo groups, respectively (mean difference, −93.5 dyn·s·cm−5; 95% confidence interval, −156.8, −30.3; p=0.006). The changes in cardiac index (p<0.001) and Borg Dyspnoea Scale score (p=0.036) were also significantly improved over placebo. 6WMD and WHO functional class were not significantly improved. The common adverse events in the selexipag group were corresponded to those generally observed following a prostacyclin analogue is administered.Selexipag significantly improved PVR and other haemodynamic variables in patients with CTEPH, although exercise capacity remained unchanged. Further large-scale investigation is necessary to prove the role of selexipag in CTEPH.


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