Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21766080›Full record

SynthesisCanadian respiratory journal

Transition from intravenous epoprostenol to oral or subcutaneous therapy in pulmonary arterial hypertension: a retrospective case series and systematic review.

Kirily Park, David Ostrow, Robert D Levy, John Swiston

Open access · goldAbstract readCase ReportsSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Canadian respiratory journal. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Connective tissue disease associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension: management of a patient with severe haemodynamic impairment.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2014
    Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Kirily ParkThe Lung Center, Vancouver General Hospital, University of British Columbia.
David Ostrow
Robert D Levy
John Swiston
Vancouver General Hospital · CAUniversity of British Columbia · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIntravenous epoprostenol, a prostaglandin analogue, has been a mainstay of therapy for patients with advanced pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) since the early 1990s. This medication has multiple side effects, and sudden discontinuation is potentially associated with severe sequelae. Several recent case series have described the transition from intravenous to newer oral or subcutaneous therapies. A case series detailing the authors' experience with such transitions, and a systematic lierature review is presented.

methodsAll consecutive PAH patients seen at the Vancouver Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic (Vancouver, British Columbia) between June 1995 and July 2009 were reviewed for cases in which weaning or transition from intravenous epoprostenol was attempted. The Cochrane Collaboration, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, Journals@Ovid, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Papers First were searched using predefined key words for publications describing transition of PAH patients from parenteral prostanoids to oral or subcutaneous agents.

resultsOf the six patients who attempted, all transitioned successfully to oral or subcutaneous agents, having been on intravenous epoprostenol for a mean of 3.8 years (range 1.8 to 9.75 years). Five are living, surviving a mean of 5.5 years after transition. The literature search yielded nine studies and, of 127 patients described, 82 transitioned successfully. The length of pretransition prostanoid treatment (range 1.7 to 7.6 years) and the posttransition follow-up period (range two months to 70 months) were shorter than for patients described in the present study.

conclusionsGiven the rarity of PAH, the absolute numbers of patients transitioned from intravenous epoprostenol are still low. With the advent of new therapies, these numbers will hopefully increase; continued study is necessary to identify factors that are predictive of success.

Indexed as

Dosage FormsDrug SubstitutionEpoprostenolAdministration, OralAdultAntihypertensive AgentsBiological AvailabilityFamilial Primary Pulmonary HypertensionFemaleHumansHypertension, PulmonaryInjections, IntravenousInjections, SubcutaneousMaleMedication Therapy ManagementMiddle AgedAntihypertensive AgentsDosage FormsEpoprostenol

Identifiers

PMID21766080
PMCPMC3328871
OpenAlexW2312402646

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.