P. Escribano Subias

Effect of Different Pharmacologic Agents to Reverse Severe Pulmonary Hypertension Among End-Stage Heart Failure Patients

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to analyze the hemodynamic responses during vasoreactivity tests among candidates for heart transplantation who displayed severe pulmonary hypertension seeking to identify risk markers of nonresponse to the test. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this observational retrospective study we evaluated demographic, clinical, echocardiographic, and hemodynamic variables. The target hemodynamic goal in the vasoreactivity test was to achieve a transpulmonary gradient (TPG) <12 mm Hg and/or pulmonary vascular resistances (PVR) <2.5 Wood Units (WU). RESULTS We analyzed medical records from 79 patients. Inotropes (dopamine or dobutamine) were used to treat 33 patients, nonselective vasodilators (nitroglycerin or sodium nitroprusside) were used in 22 patients, and prostacyclin (PC) was used in 24 patients. The study observed a significant decrease in pulmonary pressures, PVR, and TPG, with increased cardiac output (CO) compared with baseline hemodynamics in all groups. No significant differences were observed between agents except for an increase in CO, which was greater in the PC group. Also, 49.4% of patients were considered responders to the vasoreactivity test without significant differences between groups. Risk markers for absence of a response to the vasoreactivity test were a CO <2.5 L/min (odds ratio [OR] = 2.1; confidence interval [CI] 95%, 1.1-3.9; P = .035) and a PVR >6 WU (OR = 3.7; CI 95%, 1.8-7.6; P < .001) in the baseline hemodynamic study. CONCLUSIONS Inotropes, nonselective vasodilators, and prostacyclin produced effective vasodilator responses in the pulmonary vascular bed during the vasoreactivity test. The presence of a baseline high PVR or a low CO were predictors of nonresponse to the test.

Sildenafilo como sustituto de prostaciclina subcutánea en la hipertensión pulmonar

La prostaciclina subcutanea (treprostinil) es efectiva a corto plazo para el tratamiento de la hipertension pulmonar. El efecto adverso descrito con mas frecuencia es el dolor sobre la zona de infusion, que en raras ocasiones obliga a suspender el tratamiento. El sildenafilo es un inhibidor selectivo de la fosfodiesterasa-5 con efecto vasodilatador pulmonar. Describimos el cambio de treprostinil por sildenafilo en una paciente con hipertension pulmonar asociada a lupus eritematoso, a quien se le retiro el treprostinil debido a dolor abdominal incontrolable

Remodelado cardíaco inverso en pacientes con hipertensión pulmonar tras trasplante bipulmonar. Estudio con tomografía computarizada multidetector

OBJECTIVE To use multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) to evaluate the structural changes in the right heart and pulmonary arteries that occur in patients with severe pulmonary hypertension treated by double lung transplantation. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a retrospective study of 21 consecutive patients diagnosed with severe pulmonary hypertension who underwent double lung transplantation at our center between 2010 and 2014. We analyzed the last MDCT study done before lung transplantation and the first MDCT study done after lung transplantation. We recorded the following variables: diameter of the pulmonary artery trunk, ratio of the diameter of the pulmonary artery trunk to the diameter of the ascending aorta, diameter of the right ventricle, ratio of the diameter of the left ventricle to the diameter of the right ventricle, and eccentricity index. Statistical analysis consisted of the comparison of the means of the variables recorded. RESULTS In all cases analyzed, the MDCT study done a mean of 24±14 days after double lung transplantation showed a significant reduction in the size of the right heart chambers, with improved indices of ventricular interdependency index, and reduction in the size of the pulmonary artery trunk (p<0.001 for all the variables analyzed). CONCLUSION Patients with pulmonary hypertension treated by double lung transplantation present early reverse remodeling of the changes in the structures of the right heart and pulmonary arterial tree. MDCT is useful for detecting these changes.