April 2024 PVRI Community Call with Joseph Newman and Esther Nossent

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a life-threatening condition frequently associated with exertional dyspnea. It remains diagnostically challenging due to limitations in current screening modalities. While the 6-min walk test (6MWT) has been applied for risk stratification in confirmed PH, its potential role in screening remains unexplored.

There is a need for objective, continuous and remote assessment of exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Using data from the TRACE study, in which 108 adult patients with PAH were continuously monitored with a wrist-worn accelerometer, we evaluated whether actigraphy can facilitate continuous monitoring of exercise capacity. 

The 6-min walk test (6MWT) has significant prognostic value, but requires long walking distances and lacks evaluation of exercise speed. This study aimed to investigate the clinical utility of a new walk test, the 18-meter walk test (18MWT), in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) as a complement to the 6MWT.

Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) is a fatal disease associated with high mortality, especially in countries with limited health resources in terms of lack of access to diagnostic and therapeutic evaluations. Therefore, it is necessary to discover inexpensive and available serum biomarkers for examining patients.