Inhalant Therapy Possible for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Researchers have found that aninhalant might serve as a means ofapplying iloprost therapy to patients withpulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).The iloprost inhalation solution wasapproved by the FDA in December 2004.The findings were from a follow-up studyinvestigating the long-term safety, dosing,and clinical benefits of this therapyover a 2-year period. The study, involving52 PAH patients, showed that inhaled iloprostwas effective for the long-termtreatment of PAH in affected patients,with 2-year data suggesting sustainedbenefit. Patients with primary or idiopathicPAH had a 2-year survival rate of 91%,compared with a predicted survival of63% for similar yet untreated patients.This therapy, researchers claim, will providephysicians with a noninvasive treatmentoption when considering prostacyclintherapy for their PAH patients.