A Lifelong Journey in the Field of the Pulmonary Circulation: Perspectives Through the Lens of the Cardiovascular Pulmonary Research Laboratory

Kurt R. Stenmark

https://doi.org/10.1002/pul2.70222 

Abstract

In 1980, while working as a pediatric resident in the newborn intensive care unit of a University-affiliated hospital, I was called urgently to the delivery room. The attending obstetrician had delivered a full-term infant without complications just minutes before my arrival. The baby, however, was cyanotic and in severe respiratory distress. I administered oxygen via hand-bagging, but the infant's color and condition failed to improve. I intubated the child, continued assisted ventilation, and called the attending physician at the University of Colorado Hospital. During our brief but critical discussion, we concluded that the newborn likely suffered from persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN)—a condition in which the pulmonary arteries remain constricted after birth, preventing proper oxygenation.

At the time, this was a devastating diagnosis with no effective therapies. The infant was transferred to the University Hospital, where IV Priscoline was administered along with continued ventilation. Despite every effort, the baby passed away within hours. The parents—both fellow residents—were heartbroken, as was I. My grief turned into determination. I resolved that I would dedicate my career to understanding this disease—no matter how long it might take.

A few years later, that determination led me to a fateful introduction. Dr. Ernest “Ernie” Cotton, director of the Pediatric Pulmonary Fellowship at the University of Colorado, introduced me to Dr. Jack Reeves—one of the world's leading experts in pulmonary hypertension (PH) and co-director of the Cardiovascular Pulmonary (CVP) Research Laboratories. Our first meeting convinced me that, under his mentorship and within the collaborative environment of the CVP, we could begin to uncover the mechanisms and potential treatments for PPHN.

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