VIENNA, Sept. 5 -- For patients in the early stages of pulmonary arterial hypertension, the use of bosentan (Tracleer) appears to slow the progressive worsening of symptoms, researchers said here.
"The results of our trial confirm for the first time that early diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension have an impact on a relevant endpoint such as clinical worsening, even for those patients who present with mild symptoms," said cardiologist Nazzareno Galie, M.D., of the University of Bologna in Italy.
About 100,000 patients in the U.S. have pulmonary arterial hypertension, which increases right heart pressure, causing dilation and eventually heart failure.
Dr. Galie and colleagues recruited 185 patients, ages 12 and older, into the Endothelin Antagonist Trial in Mildly Symptomatic PAH patients. They assigned 93 to receive bosentan at 62.5 mg twice a day for four weeks and then 125 mg twice a day thereafter in the six-month study. The other 92 patients were given placebo.
To determine worsening of the condition, patients were assessed for the level of pulmonary vascular resistance at the start of the trial and at the end of the study. Among the patients on bosentan, resistance decreased by 33.5% while resistance decreased by 10% among those on placebo.
