Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
2011-5-30
pubmed:abstractText
The Fontan circulation is a palliative procedure performed in patients with complex congenital heart disease (CHD), making transpulmonary blood flow dependent on the systemic venous pressure. In a Fontan circulation a low pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) is crucial, as is epitomized by the observation that a high PVR is a strong predictor of mortality. Long-term follow-up has shown that PVR may rise many years after the Fontan procedure has been performed, possibly due to micro-emboli from a dilated right atrium or from the venous system. Other mechanisms of increased PVR might be aging, obstructed airways caused by lymphatic dysfunction, lack of pulsatile pulmonary flow causing a release of endothelium-derived vasoactive molecules, and prolonged overexpression of vasoconstrictors such as endothelin-1. Mean plasma level of endothelin-1 has been shown to be significantly higher in Fontan patients compared to healthy controls. In patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), therapy with bosentan, an endothelin-1 receptor antagonist, has demonstrated to improve exercise capacity and to reduce the elevated PVR. In addition, reduction of PVR is shown early and late after the Fontan procedure on treatment with exogenous NO, another advanced PAH therapy. However, the long term effect of reducing the PVR by bosentan treatment on exercise capacity in Fontan patients is still unknown.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
1559-2030
pubmed:author
pubmed:copyrightInfo
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
32
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
586-91
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2011
pubmed:articleTitle
Rationale and design of a trial on the role of bosentan in Fontan patients: improvement of exercise capacity?
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Multicenter Study