Learning and research

The resistance–compliance (RC) relationship between pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and pulmonary arterial compliance (PAC) provides an integrative measure of global right ventricular (RV) afterload. However, debate persists regarding the clinical utility of PAC calculated using the empiric formula (PACempiric), and the ideal method for calculating PAC. 

It was a Sunday morning. That was the only time Drs. Pat Daily or Walt Dembitsky could review cases before they operated on Monday. It was 1986, and I was a pulmonary fellow, so my presence at this meeting with Dr. Kenneth Moser (1929–1997) (Figure 1) was as an observer, not a participant. 

In 1988, I had spent over 2 years at the Physiological Institute, working on the competition between skin- and muscle blood flow for cardiac output in man during exercise, when I started my residency in Internal Medicine. There I met Werner Seeger, who was a consultant and was directing the Intensive Care Unit at that time. He enrolled me in his research group, which focused on acute respiratory stress syndrome (ARDS), a condition characterised by a ventilation-perfusion mismatch that results in competition for blood flow between well- and poorly ventilated lung areas, a topic I had previously explored in my scientific work.

In this PH Community Call we discussed: 

• Risk Assessment Models and Event-Free Survival in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
• PINK1/Parkin Deficiency Enhances Vascular Remodeling and Aggravates Hypoxia-induced Pulmonary Hypertension

We read with great interest the recent article by Xi et al. entitled “Pulmonary artery dilatation in different causes of pulmonary hypertension.” The authors provide a comprehensive evaluation of more than one thousand patients with different subtypes of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), showing that pulmonary artery (PA) dilatation is a common finding but does not independently predict survival. 

Although there are defined outpatient and inpatient spaces, when end of life occurs in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting, there is an opportunity for collaboration for chronic and acute medical teams to work for a “good death.”

In this commentary, we share our perspectives on collaborating for pulmonary hypertension patients as they approach end-of-life.

Current in vivo imaging techniques for cardiopulmonary vascular evaluation in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats face limitations, including structural disruption, inadequate contrast filling, and invasiveness. This study developed a reliable, minimally invasive computed tomography angiography (CTA) technique via jugular vein catheterization for enhanced cardiopulmonary vascular imaging in live SD rats. 

This letter to the editor revisits the origins of high-dose calcium channel blocker use in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in light of bedside vasoreactivity testing, reaffirming its present-day relevance for a selected subgroup.

From the earliest days of human existence, people have inhabited some of the most challenging environments on Earth, including high-altitude regions. It is well established that chronic hypoxia, the defining environmental feature of mountainous areas, leads to high altitude-induced pulmonary hypertension (HAPH) in individuals who are not adequately adapted. Yet, despite the apparent presence of another environmental stressor, such as cold, its role in development remained overlooked for decades.

In 1999, I was asked by Pfizer to investigate the potential use of sildenafil, commonly known today as Viagra, for indications beyond its initial approval for erectile dysfunction. After conducting thorough research, I discovered studies published by the May and Baker pharmaceutical company that suggested a type 5 phosphodiesterase (PDE5) inhibitor could reduce pulmonary pressure in experimental animals [1-3].