title: Pharmacodynamic considerations in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension in infants: challenges and future perspectives.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in infants is a life-threatening disease with a high mortality. It is treated with different drugs that act upon the three different pathways involved in its development. Studies on the drug pharmacodynamics are sparse, however.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review reports a search on the currently available literature in English on drug pharmacodynamics in infants with PH. The search yielded 2499 citations in the EMBASE, MEDLINE, COCHRANE, Web of Science, PubMed Publisher and Google Scholar databases since 1961. Of these, 1691 did not meet the research question. Eventually, 655 articles were of interest, including 44 randomized controlled trials on PH in infants. These articles cover all PH medications used in infancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mortality of PH in infancy has dropped considerably over the past years. iNO is widely used, followed by sildenafil - both orally and intravenously in contrast to the exclusively oral use in adults. In adults, the pharmacodynamic effects of the different medications are tested using the 6-minute walking test, changes in the NYHA classification, or by invasive measurement of pulmonary pressure. Reliable data of pharmacodynamics tested in adequate series or in randomized controlled trials in children are lacking, however, for most of these medications.
authors.affiliation: a Intensive Care and Department of Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center , Sophia Children's Hospital , NL-3000 CB Rotterdam , the Netherlands.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.affiliation: a Intensive Care and Department of Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center , Sophia Children's Hospital , NL-3000 CB Rotterdam , the Netherlands.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cochius-den Otter
authors.affiliation: a Intensive Care and Department of Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center , Sophia Children's Hospital , NL-3000 CB Rotterdam , the Netherlands.
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Snoek
authors.affiliation: a Intensive Care and Department of Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center , Sophia Children's Hospital , NL-3000 CB Rotterdam , the Netherlands.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tibboel
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000818:Animals; D015195:Drug Design; D005080:Exercise Test; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D007223:Infant; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000068677:Sildenafil Citrate / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D000068677:Sildenafil Citrate
keywords: infants; medication pharmacodynamics; pulmonary hypertension