Pulmonary (Arterial) Hypertension

Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease characterised by vascular remodelling of the small lung arteries leading to a decrease of the vessel lumen and eventually to occlusion. According to the current guidelines, PAH is defined by a pulmonary arterial pressure ≥ 25 mmHg, an arterial wedge pressure ≤ 15 mmHg, and an elevated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR > 3 WU). The current pathophysiological concepts include disturbances in the production, deposition and composition of the extracellular matrix, inflammatory processes, mutations in the BMPR2 gene as well as mutations in the KCNK3 gene. During the last few years, epigenetic and genetic investigations resulted in new findings which are highly relevant for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy of PAH. These findings could lead to the development of new, individualised therapy strategies. Currently, several phase I and phase II studies are in progress, in which promising new substances are examined.