PAH diagnostics

Congenital heart disease can often lead to disease of the pulmonary arteries (which connect the lungs to the heart). This induces the heart to pump harder to force blood through to the lungs. The pathological changes in the pulmonary arteries progress through different stages to a point where they are no longer reversible. The final stage is known as Eisenmenger’s syndrome, and is always associated with severely limited exercise tolerance and a reduction in the patient’s quality of life.

At present, little is known about the causal links between the onset, progression and risk factors of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

The aim of the PAH diagnostics study is to identify pathological changes in the pulmonary arteries at an early stage of the disease, using standardised methods of diagnosis, so that appropriate treatment can be commenced without delay. The results of the diagnostics study serve as input to a separate therapeutics study on pulmonary arterial hypertension.

This multi-centric study is being carried out in partnership with numerous clinics in Germany that provide medical care for patients with congenital heart defects. All results are entered in a central database and evaluated jointly by the members of the network – a more efficient way of obtaining high-quality research findings.

The recruitment of patients for the study closed on 31 March 2007.

A number of clinics and heart centres all over Germany are taking part in the study. An up-to-date list of these participants can be found here …