The treatment of chronic pulmonary hypertension by vasodilators: hope and hesitation.
Contemporary therapy of most advanced cases of chronic lung disease is not yet satisfactory; even long-term oxygen treatment has shortcomings and limitations. Many authors have tried to find another therapeutic approach for the correction of either pulmonary hypertension or oxygen delivery, both factors being related to long-term survival. Vasodilators seem to be the subject of further intensive research rather than an established therapy. The results of acute experiments with different drugs are promising but studies of long-term treatment are incomplete. Some of the most pertinent questions for further research are: the classification of the reversibility of pulmonary hypertension, reliable evaluation of the results of therapy, the application of animal experiments to human pathology, haemodynamic conception of an ideal vasodilator, and the attenuation of the effect of some vasodilators during long-term treatment.
D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D014665:Vasodilator Agents