title: Pulmonary hypertension associated with chronic obstructive lung disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Severe pulmonary hypertension worsens the prognosis of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). With the aim of better understanding the pathogenesis of this event and identifying the possible targets for therapeutic intervention, a great deal of clinical and translational research is now focused on this relevant field of medicine.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Some studies that were published last year have helped to better define the clinical and physiological profiles of patients with COPD or IPF and severe pulmonary hypertension. The importance of pulmonary rehabilitation was confirmed, particularly in patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with IPF. Information on the use of drugs approved for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension is still very limited, because of some limitations and selection biases in the studies' design. New strategies (i.e. the use of fasudil or sepiapterin in pulmonary hypertension associated with IPF) have been evaluated in animal models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pulmonary hypertension in COPD or IPF may range from mild to severe. When pulmonary hypertension is more advanced, it can drive a poor outcome. Therefore, future studies should focus on this subset.
authors.affiliation: aPulmonary Division, Faculty of Medicine, Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, The Technion, Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel bU.O. di Pneumologia e UTIR, Servizio di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria e di Emodinamica Polmonare, Ospedale San Giuseppe MultiMedica, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Yochai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Adir
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D054990:Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology