Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 May;22(3):289-297.
doi: 10.1007/s10741-017-9612-9.

Drug-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension: a review

Lohit Garg  1   2 , Ghulam Akbar  3 , Sahil Agrawal  4 , Manyoo Agarwal  5 , Leila Khaddour  6 , Rishin Handa  7 , Aakash Garg  8 , Mahek Shah  3 , Brijesh Patel  3 , Bhavinkumar D Dalal  6   9
Affiliations
Review

Drug-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension: a review

Lohit Garg et al. Heart Fail Rev. 2017 May.

Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a subgroup of PH patients characterized hemodynamically by the presence of pre-capillary PH, defined by a pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP) ≤15 mmHg and a PVR >3 Wood units (WU) in the absence of other causes of pre-capillary PH. According to the current classification, PAH can be associated with exposure to certain drugs or toxins such as anorectic agents, amphetamines, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. With the improvement in awareness and recognition of the drug-induced PAH, it allowed the identification of additional drugs associated with an increased risk for the development of PAH. The supposed mechanism is an increase in the serotonin levels or activation of serotonin receptors that has been demonstrated to act as a growth factor for the pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells and cause progressive obliteration of the pulmonary vasculature. PAH remains a rare complication of several drugs, suggesting possible individual susceptibility, and further studies are needed to identify patients at risk of drug-induced PAH.

Keywords: Drug; Drug-related; Pulmonary arterial hypertension; Pulmonary hypertension.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Respir Med. 1996 Mar;90(3):171-4 - PubMed
    1. Am J Pathol. 2015 Feb;185(2):356-71 - PubMed
    1. Poult Sci. 2008 Jan;87(1):138-45 - PubMed
    1. J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2011 Dec;31(12):857-65 - PubMed
    1. Prostaglandins Med. 1980 Mar;4(3):163-70 - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources