PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Nazzareno Galiè AU - Richard N. Channick AU - Robert P. Frantz AU - Ekkehard Grünig AU - Zhi Cheng Jing AU - Olga Moiseeva AU - Ioana R. Preston AU - Tomas Pulido AU - Zeenat Safdar AU - Yuichi Tamura AU - Vallerie V. McLaughlin TI - Risk stratification and medical therapy of pulmonary arterial hypertension AID - 10.1183/13993003.01889-2018 DP - 2018 Jan 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 1801889 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2018/10/11/13993003.01889-2018.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2018/10/11/13993003.01889-2018.full AB - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains a severe clinical condition despite the availability over the past 15 years of multiple drugs interfering with the endothelin, nitric oxide and prostacyclin pathways. The recent progress observed in medical therapy of PAH is not, therefore, related to the discovery of new pathways, but to the development of new strategies for combination therapy and on escalation of treatments based on systematic assessment of clinical response. The current treatment strategy is based on the severity of the newly diagnosed PAH patient as assessed by a multiparametric risk stratification approach. Clinical, exercise, right ventricular function and haemodynamic parameters are combined to define a low-, intermediate- or high-risk status according to the expected 1-year mortality. The current treatment algorithm provides the most appropriate initial strategy, including monotherapy, or double or triple combination therapy. Further treatment escalation is required in case low-risk status is not achieved in planned follow-up assessments. Lung transplantation may be required in most advanced cases on maximal medical therapy.State of the art and research perspectives on medical therapy of pulmonary arterial hypertension, including treatment algorithm http://ow.ly/4UkJ30md5GS