Abstract
Several substances have proven clinical efficacy for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, clinical worsening does occur, and for some forms of PH no effective systemic treatment exists at all. New compounds that will hopefully improve the prognosis of pulmonary hypertension/pulmonary arterial hypertension (PH/PAH) patients are, therefore, being developed. Promising new substances include riociguat, a stimulator of the soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC). In a multicenter open-label phase II study, riociguat exerted strong and significant effects on pulmonary hemodynamics and exercise capacity in patients with PAH and in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). Riociguat is currently being evaluated in phase III clinical trials both in PAH and in CTEPH patients.
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Acknowledgments
This article is based on a presentation given at the “5th International Ventavis® Symposium 2009, Athens”, sponsored by Bayer Schering Pharma AG.
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Schermuly, R., Misselwitz, F. & Tiede, H. Riociguat for treatment of pulmonary hypertension. Clin Res Cardiol Suppl 5 (Suppl 2), 16–18 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11789-010-0020-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11789-010-0020-0