Successful bosentan therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia

Heart Vessels. 2011 Mar;26(2):231-4. doi: 10.1007/s00380-010-0079-z. Epub 2010 Dec 4.

Abstract

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a hereditary vascular disease with multiple arterial venous malformations. Pulmonary arterial hypertension is occasionally associated with HHT; however, there is no evidence of targeted therapy for this subgroup of patients. This report describes a 37-year-old woman who presented with dyspnea on exertion. She was finally diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with HHT (HHT2, MIM 600376), and had multiple arterial venous malformations in the lung, liver and pancreas. An oral dual endothelin receptor (ET(A)/ET(B)) antagonist, bosentan, was prescribed, and her symptoms, exercise capacity and laboratory findings improved greatly after treatment. Pulmonary arterial pressure also decreased. Endothelin receptor antagonist is a possible treatment option for pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with HHT.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antihypertensive Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Blood Pressure / drug effects
  • Bosentan
  • Echocardiography, Doppler
  • Endothelin Receptor Antagonists
  • Exercise Tolerance / drug effects
  • Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / diagnosis
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / drug therapy
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / etiology
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / physiopathology
  • Recovery of Function
  • Sulfonamides / therapeutic use*
  • Telangiectasia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic / complications*
  • Telangiectasia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic / diagnosis
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Antihypertensive Agents
  • Endothelin Receptor Antagonists
  • Sulfonamides
  • Bosentan