Medikamentöse Therapie des Lungenhochdrucks bei Patienten mit angeborenen Herzfehlern

The development of drugs for lowering pressures in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PHT) has provided possible therapeutic application in patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with congenital heart disease (CHD). Prostanoids, both nonselective and selective endothelin-receptor antagonists and phosphodiesterase-V inhibitors have been used for this purpose. The efficacy of these drugs - from different classes of bioactivity - in this context have been shown in several studies. However, the long-term effects of drug treatment on prognosis and course of PHT have not yet been adequately investigated. The current status of drug treatment of PHT in patients with CHD is reviewed in this article.