Is sitaxsentan a good therapeutic option for pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with connective tissue disease?
Agents that indiscriminately block endothelin receptors have been shown to cause moderate improvements in the outcomes of patients who have pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) as a complication of connective tissue disease (CTD). Girgis et al. investigated the effects of sitaxsentan, a selective endothelin receptor type A antagonist, in patients with CTD and comcomitant PAH. After 12 weeks of treatment, patients who received sitaxsentan showed more improvement from baseline compared with those receiving placebo in terms of exercise capacity, hemodynamics and physical-health-related quality of life. At the end of the extension study (median total follow-up 26 weeks), 16 of the 41 patients with CTD had an improvement of at least one New York Heart Association functional class compared with at the start of sitaxsentan therapy. The effects of sitaxsentan observed in the CTD group were comparable to those seen in the idiopathic PAH group. The authors concluded that treatment with sitaxsentan might be beneficial in patients with PAH associated with CTD.
Allanore
Yannick
Y
Service de Rhumatologie A, Université Paris Descartes, Hôpital Cochin, 27 rue du Faubourg St Jacques, 75014 Paris, France. yannick.allanore@cch.aphp.fr