The Safety and Efficiency of Sildenafil in the Treatment of Severe Post-capillary Pulmonary Hypertension Caused by COPD

The Safety and Efficiency of Sildenafil in the Treatment of Severe Post-capillary Pulmonary Hypertension Caused by COPD

Over half of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients develop pulmonary hypertension. The current therapy focuses only on the basic disease and there are a lot of controversies about the use of PAH target therapy in group 3 pulmonary hypertension. Our study is to explore whether sildenafil, a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) target drug, could be efficient and safe in improving symptoms and survival of severe pulmonary hypertension caused by COPD.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Stable for over 1 month
• mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥35mmHg, pulmonary wedge pressure≤ 15mmHg
• never received target therapy before

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with other serious respiratory diseases
• Patients with pulmonary hypertension other than group 3
• Patients with right heart hypertrophy or dysfunction not caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases
• Patients with limited life expectancy
• Patients with history of tracheal intubation or stoke, acute coronary syndrome in 6 months
• Psychopath or addict
• Nonstable patients with type Ⅰor Ⅱ respiratory failure
• Patients with contraindication for sildenafil
• Patients in pregnancy or breastfeeding