Learning and research

An on-demand recording of PVRI’s December PH Community Call, featuring informal discussion on emerging science and patient-focused research in pulmonary hypertension. The session covers new insights into hypoxic PH mechanisms and exercise interventions in PAH, with expert-led moderation and open exchange.

The establishment of the pulmonary hypertension center in Giessen, initiated in the late 1980s and further developed over the following decades by the founding team of Friedrich Grimminger, Ardeschir Ghofrani, Ralph Schermuly, and myself, has its roots in research projects on acute lung injury, ARDS. Employing the multiple gas elimination technique (MIGET), we observed severe ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) mismatch with high shunt in the ARDS lungs, accompanied by elevated pulmonary artery pressure levels.

Una sesión concisa y dirigida por expertos sobre la hipertensión pulmonar del Grupo 2—diagnóstico, clasificación actualizada y estrategias de tratamiento—con un análisis de caso en vivo.

A concise, expert-led session in Spanish exploring Group 2 pulmonary hypertension—its diagnosis, updated classification, and treatment strategies—featuring a live case discussion.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease with significant morbidity and mortality. Due to nonspecific symptoms, diagnosis can be challenging and subject to substantial delays. Using data from Mayo Clinic′s electronic health records, we looked at causes of delayed diagnosis and whether earlier diagnosis means better outcomes.

Landmark trials of sotatercept in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) excluded patients with significant cardiopulmonary comorbidities. To evaluate the real-world effectiveness and safety of sotatercept in patients with Group I PAH and cardiopulmonary comorbidities. 

“Why is there more variation in the females? Could it be due to their estrous cycle?” This was the question my co-mentor, Dr. Irina Petrache, posed when I shared the first data I generated as a first-year research fellow. It was 2007, and was in the lab of cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Dan Meldrum at Indiana University. 

This study quantified prior authorization (PA)—insurance-required approval—burden for pediatric pulmonary hypertension (PH) at an accredited center. Among 53 patients, 72% of 283 prescriptions between 2021 and 2023 required PA, with non-FDA-approved medications showing highest volume.

We read with great interest the recent article on patient-specific hemodynamic modeling to estimate microvascular disease burden and predict response to pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) [1]. The integration of multiscale structure-based modeling with routine clinical data addresses the key challenges of quantifying distal microvascular remodeling and anticipating heterogeneous hemodynamic responses after technically successful PEA.

Assessing operability in late-presenting ventricular septal defects (VSD) with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is complex. Although a comprehensive assessment is often recommended, pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) is the cornerstone of most decisions