Extract
For patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the most recent European guidelines state that right heart catheterisation (RHC) is mandatory for confirming the diagnosis of PAH, and that RHC should be considered 3–6 months after therapy changes and in patients who experience clinical deterioration [1, 2]. The guidelines also mention that some centres perform RHC at regular intervals during follow-up [1, 2]. However, many centres across the world do not routinely monitor invasive haemodynamic variables during follow-up, for a variety of potential reasons including the invasive nature of the test, cost or availability. We argue that, based on current data, RHC is still an indispensable component of the clinical management and follow-up of PAH patients in the current treatment era.
Abstract
Right heart catheterisation is still a fundamental part of the follow-up assessment of pulmonary arterial hypertension http://ow.ly/BUUi30kbbM5
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: M. Humbert reports receiving personal fees from Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, United Therapeutics and Merck, and grants and personal fees from Bayer and GSK.
Conflict of interest: J. Weatherald reports receiving grants from the European Respiratory Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society; and personal fees and nonfinancial support from Actelion Pharmaceuticals and Bayer, personal fees from Novartis, and grants from Canadian Vascular Network, outside the submitted work.
- Received April 18, 2018.
- Accepted April 20, 2018.
- Copyright ©ERS 2018