RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Looking to the future: a new decade of pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy
JF European Respiratory Review
JO EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 262
OP 269
DO 10.1183/09059180.00006411
VO 20
IS 122
A1 V.V. McLaughlin
YR 2011
UL http://err.ersjournals.com/content/20/122/262.abstract
AB Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a severe and debilitating disease characterised by vascular proliferation and remodelling of the small pulmonary arteries, leading to a progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance, increased afterload on the right ventricle and, ultimately, right heart failure. Although there is no “cure” for PAH, the availability of targeted therapies over the past decade has led to major advances in the management of PAH, reflected in improvements in survival in the modern treatment era. However, despite this, disease progression is inevitable in the majority of patients with PAH and overall the long-term prognosis, although improved, remains poor. There is a clear and urgent need for new therapeutic options, either through the development of improved drugs that act on targets established by existing PAH-specific therapies, or of agents targeting novel pathogenic pathways not addressed by currently available therapies. A number of such new agents that have shown promise in experimental models and preliminary human studies are discussed in this article.