OBJECTIVE: Identification of prognostic factors for survival in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) is necessary for appropriate monitoring, interventions, and timely referral for lung transplantation. Our objectives were (1) to identify factors associated with survival in SSc-PAH and (2) to evaluate the methodologic quality of prognostic studies against current ...

A bidirectional Glenn shunt (BGS) was successfully incorporated into a two-ventricle repair for 10 patients (age, 3-17 years) who had congenital heart disease associated with severe pulmonary outflow obstruction. The BGS was used to volume-unload the pulmonary ventricle faced with residual outflow obstruction, thereby avoiding the need for insertion of ...

BACKGROUND: The dialysis disequilibrium syndrome is characterized by neurologic deterioration and cerebral edema which occurs after hemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pathogenesis of acute cerebral and pulmonary edema induced by hemodialysis. METHODS: We evaluated the effects of hemodialysis on the biochemical and hemodynamic parameters of ...

Inhalation of Stachybotrys chartarum, a ubiquitous fungus in our living environment, has been suspected as a cause of acute idiopathic pulmonary haemorrhage in infants, but its relation to human diseases is not yet known. The aim of present study was to investigate the effect of repeated intratracheal injection of the ...

AIM: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Terlipressin in the treatment of severe hypotension in cardiosurgical patients and to assess the differences between the groups of survivors and nonsurvivors. METHODS: The study population was 27 patients who developed hypotension after cardiac surgery. RESULTS: All ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the respiratory and the pulmonary circulatory effects of norepinephrine in newborn infants with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN)-induced cardiac dysfunction. STUDY DESIGN: Inclusion criteria were: 1) Newborn infants >35 weeks gestational age; 2) PPHN treated with inhaled nitric oxide; and 3) symptoms of circulatory failure despite adequate fluid ...

Primary persistent hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia is characterised by clinical symptoms that occur when blood glucose levels drop below the normal range. Diazoxide treatment remains the mainstay of medical therapy. Tolerance of diazoxide is usually excellent, but several side effects of this drug have been described. We present a 4-month-old girl who ...

The response of pulmonary artery pressure to high altitude has not been studied in children. It is also not known whether the individual response is hereditary. Therefore, the response of pulmonary artery pressure to high altitude was measured in pre-pubertal children in comparison to that in their biological fathers. Echocardiography ...

BACKGROUND: Treprostinil, a long-acting prostacyclin analog, diminished the symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in controlled 12-week clinical efficacy studies. This retrospective, single-center, open-label study was designed to assess the efficacy of long-term, subcutaneously administered, treprostinil-based therapy alone or in combination with bosentan for the treatment of moderate-to-severe PAH. METHODS: ...

BACKGROUND: The effects of chronic inhibition of 5'-phosphodiesterase with sildenafil on functional capacity, ventilatory efficiency, oxygen uptake, pulmonary hypertension, and endothelial function in chronic heart failure (CHF) are unknown. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to assess the acute (1 hour after 50 mg by mouth) and chronic ...

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypertension occurs commonly in patients with interstitial lung disease but is frequently not diagnosed or, if diagnosed, not further evaluated. In this study, we wanted to determine the accuracy of right ventricular systolic pressure measured by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography compared with hemodynamic measurements taken at right heart catheterization ...

AIMS: Pulmonary arterial compliance (C) is increasingly being recognized as an important contributor to right ventricular afterload, but for monitoring of treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH) most often still only pulmonary vascular resistance (R) is used. We aimed at testing the hypothesis that R and C are coupled during treatment ...

To determine whether pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and pulmonary venous hypertension (PVH) can be differentiated noninvasively, we reviewed data on 44 patients with pulmonary artery systolic pressure greater than or equal to 40 mm Hg by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization performed within 7 days of each other. Based on left ...

Noninvasive diagnostics for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have traditionally sought to predict main pulmonary artery pressure from qualitative or direct quantitative measures of the flow velocity pattern obtained from spectral Doppler ultrasound examination of the main pulmonary artery. A more detailed quantification of flow velocity patterns in the systemic circuit ...

This study included 40 children, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and pulmonary hypertension (from the radiographic and clinical features), was performed at Yuzuncu Yil University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, from September 2003 to July 2005. Patients who had pneumonia and congenital heart disease or systemic hypertension or renal ...

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: San-Huang-Xie-Xin-Tang (SHXT), composed of Coptidis rhizoma, Scutellariae radix and Rhei rhizoma, is traditionally used to treat hypertension. AIM OF THE STUDY: Our aim was to investigate the pharmacology effect of SHXT on a thromboxane A(2) analogue U46619-induced increase in pulmonary hypertension and protein expression in primary pulmonary smooth ...

A 76-year-old woman presented with a six-day history of pleuritic pain, dyspnea and a swollen, tender left calf. She was dyspneic, tachypneic and tachycardic (heart rate 109 beats/min), with decreased oxygen saturation (83%) and a partial pressure of oxygen of 9 kPa. Her blood pressure was 119/79 mmHg, and she ...

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to compare cardiovascular and stress response to robotic technology during thoracoscopic mobilization and anastomosis of the esophagus vs the conventional open approach. DESIGN: Randomized experimental study. SETTING: Department of Experimental Surgery, University of Heidelberg. SUBJECTS: Twelve pigs randomized to undergo robotic or conventional surgery (6 animals ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of inhaled iloprost and nitric oxide (iNO) in reducing pulmonary hypertension (PHT) during cardiac surgery immediately after weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). DESIGN: A prospective randomized study. SETTING: A single-center university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-six patients with PHT (mean pulmonary ...

OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an ominous complication in patients with scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc). We compared noninvasive assessment of PH with pulmonary artery (PA) pressures obtained by right-heart catheterization (RHC). METHODS: Forty-nine patients with SSc were evaluated for suspected PH based on clinical findings, progressive dyspnea, and pulmonary function ...

In acute myocardial infarction (AMI), alveolar interstitium edema is generally attributed to a hydrostatic imbalance. However, inflammatory burden and/or neural/hormonal/hemodynamic stimulation might injure the microvascular endothelium, eliciting interstitial overflow and altering alveolar-capillary gas diffusion. In 118 patients with AMI (ejection fraction >or=50% and wedge pulmonary pressure <16 mmHg), admission alveolar-capillary ...

Pulmonary hypertension is a relatively common cardiac complication in thalassemia. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of it in patients with thalassemia intermedia, so that we could find a solution for ameliorating it in the future. This is a descriptive study on patients with thalassemia intermedia ...

INTRODUCTION: Prostacyclin inhalation is increasingly used to treat acute pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular failure, although its pharmacodynamic properties remain controversial. Prostacyclins not only affect vasomotor tone but may also have cAMP-mediated positive inotropic effects and modulate autonomic nervous system tone. We studied the role of these different mechanisms in ...

There is evidence that high altitude populations may be better protected from hypoxic pulmonary hypertension than low altitude natives, but the underlying mechanism is incompletely understood. In Tibetans, increased pulmonary respiratory NO synthesis attenuates hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. It has been speculated that this mechanism may represent a generalized high altitude ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate predictors of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in a prospective cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: Routine clinical assessments as well as measurements of the diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide/alveolar volume (DLCO/VA) ratio and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) level were performed in a prospective cohort ...

Decreased levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) or excess levels of their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) may contribute to dysregulation of extracellular matrix turnover in systemic sclerosis (SSc). In a cross-sectional study of 106 SSc patients, we measured serum levels of TIMP-4 which is preferentially expressed in cardiovascular structures and searched for ...

Prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) affects pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and respiratory rate (RR) in mammals, but no information previously was available regarding avian pulmonary responses to PGE(2). Two experiments were conducted in which 45- to 55-d-old male broiler chickens were infused i.v. with PGE(2) at the lowest ...

Previous hemodynamic evaluations demonstrated that pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) is higher in broilers that are susceptible to pulmonary hypertension syndrome (PHS, ascites) than in broilers that are resistant to PHS. We compared key pulmonary hemodynamic parameters in broilers from PHS-susceptible and PHS-resistant lines (selected for 12 generations under hypobaric hypoxia) ...

Patients with Eisenmenger syndrome experience substantial morbidity and decreased survival rates. In advanced cases, lung transplantation with cardiac repair or heart-lung transplantation is often the only option. The efficacy of endothelin receptor antagonists in Eisenmenger syndrome, which has similar pathophysiology to idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, remains unknown.We retrospectively studied adults with ...

In part of hypertensive acute pulmonary oedema patients we can determine normal ejection fraction (EF) after remission of symptomatology and pulmonary congestion. In most cases echocardiography is performed after the disappearance of pulmonary oedema (APO). METHODS: Echocardiography was performed in standard views. The EF was measured by area-length monoplane method ...

AIM: To study the effects of fosinopril on sinoaortic denervation (SAD)-induced pulmonary vascular remodeling and on phosphodiesterases (PDE) 1 in rats. METHODS: SAD was performed in male Sprague-Dawley rats at the age of 10 weeks. The experiment included sham-operated (Sham), SAD, and fosinopril-treated SAD groups. Fosinopril (15 mg/kg/d) was given ...

Airway obstruction is a quite common complication while its conditioned pulmonary edema--rare. Causes associated with anesthesia are various. Forced inspiratory efforts against an obstructed upper airway generate peak negative intrathoracic pressure. This may cause pulmonary edema and in some cases pulmonary hemorrhage. Last-mentioned is extremely rare. Pulmonary edema may arise ...

OBJECTIVE: The accuracy of E/E' ratio has not been validated in atrial fibrillation (AF). The objective of this study is to compare the accuracy of the E/E' ratio averaged over a sample of 10 cardiac cycles and E/E' ratio obtained in the cycle with the longest RR interval for the ...

Excessive hypoxic pulmonary hypertension imposes right ventricular strain by increasing afterload that may lead to right heart failure and death. Increased phosphodiesterase activity, as well as increased levels of endothelin-1, has been discussed as molecular mechanisms. We investigated the hemodynamic and intrapulmonary effects of the intravenous dual endothelin A and ...

Experiments on cats showed that catecholamines produced maximum changes in pulmonary artery blood pressure during 12-16 sec postinjection, while blood flow in this artery attained maximum only to 40 sec postinjection, i.e. changes in blood flow attained maximum and ended later than blood pressure shifts. Intravenous epinephrine produced bidirectional changes ...

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a progressive and still incurable disease. Research of IPAH-pathogenesis is complicated by the lack of a direct access to the involved tissue, the human pulmonary vasculature. Various auto-antibodies have been described in the blood of patients with IPAH. The purpose of the present ...

BACKGROUND: A small experimental animal model of postobstructive pulmonary hypertension (PH) providing insights in the physiopathology of this disease was developed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Lewis rats were anesthetized and aleatory manipulated via a left thoracotomy with (group I, n = 10) or without (group II, n = 10) ligation ...

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary hypertensive crisis (PHC) is a significant contributor to the morbidity and mortality of surgery for congenital heart defect. Management of such a potentially fatal complication has been evolving for the past decades. Inhaled iloprost has been reported as an alternative treatment for this condition. We evaluated the use ...

It is shown that phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors such as sildenafil can modulate pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) via increasing the level of guanosine-3,5-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) and decreases pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). In this study we determined the effectiveness of sildenafil and compared its efficacy with inhaled nasal oxygen (O2) ...

BACKGROUND: The use of ketamine in children with increased pulmonary vascular resistance is controversial. In this prospective, open label study, we evaluated the hemodynamic responses to ketamine in children with pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure >25 mm Hg). METHODS: Children aged 3 mo to 18 yr with pulmonary hypertension, ...

In this work detection of pulmonary abnormalities carried out using flow-volume spirometer and Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN) is presented. The spirometric data were obtained from adult volunteers (N=100) with standard recording protocol. The pressure and resistance parameters were derived using the theoretical approximation of the activation function representing ...

BACKGROUND: We determined the alterations of nitric oxide (NO) and oxygen free radicals during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) in healthy pigs and investigated their relationship to pulmonary hemodynamics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen pigs served as donors and recipients for 7 OLT, under general anesthesia. Hemodynamic monitoring included: systemic and mean ...

Utilizing aortopulmonary vascular graft placement in the fetal lamb, we have developed a model (shunt) of pulmonary hypertension that mimics congenital heart disease with increased pulmonary blood flow. Our previous studies have identified a progressive development of endothelial dysfunction in shunt lambs that is dependent, at least in part, on ...

AIM: To investigate the systemic hemodynamic effects of two surgical procedures largely employed for treatment of schistosomal portal hypertension. METHODS: Thirty-six patients undergoing elective surgical treatment of portal hypertension due to hepatosplenic mansonic schistosomiasis were prospectively evaluated. All patients were subjected to preoperative pulmonary artery catheterization; 17 were submitted to ...

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a predictor of early death risk owing to right heart insufficiency after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of sildenafil therapy to decrease pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in patients with heart failure requiring transplantation, who ...

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a disease condition characterized by abnormally increased pulmonary artery pressures and often is associated with a poor prognosis. Sildenafil is a phosphodiesterase inhibitor that causes pulmonary arterial vasodilation and reduction in pulmonary artery pressures. HYPOTHESIS: Treatment with sildenafil will improve echocardiographic determinants of PH in ...

Doppler estimation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) from tricuspid regurgitation velocity is a simple approach to the detection of pulmonary hypertension but may be influenced by right ventricular stroke volume. We sought the clinical utility of incorporating Doppler calculation of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) into determination of pulmonary hypertension ...

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to determine the relationship between pulmonary artery (PA) volumes at computed tomography (CT) and PA pressures at right-sided heart catheterization in patients with and without pulmonary hypertension (PAH) to develop a noninvasive CT method of PA pressure quantification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with chronic ...

A rabbit model of acute thrombo-embolic pulmonary hypertension was developed by infusing self-thrombi into the right femoral vein and simultaneously measuring the pulmonary artery pressure via a right heart catheter and echocardiography. The model was used to explore the usefulness of an ultrasound-guided protocol. In the present study, acute thrombo-embolic ...

Implantable radio-telemetry methodology, allowing for continuous recording of pulmonary haemodynamics, has previously been used to assess effects of therapy on development and treatment of pulmonary hypertension. In the original procedure, rats were subjected to invasive thoracic surgery, which imposes significant stress that may disturb critical aspects of the cardiovascular system ...