Survival in patients with class III idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension treated with first line oral bosentan compared with an historical cohort of patients started on intravenous epoprostenol.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The oral dual endothelin receptor antagonist bosentan improves exercise capacity and delays clinical worsening in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, but its use could delay starting intravenous epoprostenol, a life saving treatment.

Methods

Survival in patients with functional class III idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treated with bosentan in clinical trials was compared with historical data from similar patients treated with epoprostenol in the clinic. Statistical methods were used to adjust for possible underlying differences between the two groups.

Results

Baseline factors for the 139 patients treated with bosentan and the 346 treated with epoprostenol suggested that the epoprostenol cohort had more severe disease-that is, a

SUBMITTER: Sitbon O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1747276 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature