Purpose: To determine the specifics of inhaled iloprost effect on pulmonary and systemic hemodynamics in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
Materials and methods: 47 vasore- activity tests (VRT) with 20 micrograms inhaled iloprost (Ventavis, Bayer) were performed in 39 candidates on heart transplantation. All patients had heart failure III-IV NYHA and PH with pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) more than 2.5 Wood units. Hemodynamic parameters were evaluated at baseline and 15 minutes after inhalation of iloprost.
Results: Iloprost significant decreased PAPmean: from 36.8 ± 8.5 mm Hg to 29.9 ± 9.4 mm Hg (p < 0.001). There was a significant decrease in PVR:from 4.5 1.6 Wood units to 3 ± 1 Wood units (p < 0.001). PVR dropped more than 20% in 34 cases (72.3%). Iloprost inhalation caused significant changes in systemic hemodynamic. There were decrease in sys- temic vascular resistance (SVR)from 1820 ± 527 dynes·sec·cm(-5) to 1423 ± 427 dynes·sec·cm(-5) (p < 0.001), increase in stroke volume index (SVI) from 26.1 ± 8.7 ml/m2 to 30.5 ± 9.5 ml/m2 (p < 0.001) and decrease in PCWP from 20.6 ± 5.9 mm Hg to 18.4 ± 6.6 mm Hg. (p = 0.016). We found significant negative correlation between systemic effects of iloprost and initial cardiac index (r = -0.63).
Conclusions: Inhaled iloprost caused significant changes in systemic hemodynamic when was used in patients with severe LV systolic dysfunction. Favorable changes in the left ventricle preload and after- load naturally increased its performance and decreased PCWP.