Treatment Patterns of Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension: A Descriptive Study in Colombia

ABSTRACT Introduction Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a chronic disease characterized by a progressive rise in pulmonary artery blood pressure. The objective was to describe the treatment patterns among ambulatory patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Manuel Machado‐Duque, Andrés Gaviria‐Mendoza, Luis Fernando Valladales‐Restrepo, Manuel Pacheco, Juan Sebastián Franco, María delRosario Forero, Rubiela Suarez, Oscar Peñuela, Jorge E. Machado‐Alba
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-02-01
Series:The Clinical Respiratory Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1111/crj.70063
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Introduction Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a chronic disease characterized by a progressive rise in pulmonary artery blood pressure. The objective was to describe the treatment patterns among ambulatory patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) in a real‐world setting. Methods This is a longitudinal cohort follow‐up study characterizing the treatment patterns of patients diagnosed with PAH or CTEPH, with secondary data from a population‐based drug‐dispensing database between 2022 and 2023, which includes sociodemographic, diagnosis, prescribing specialty, and treatment (drugs, persistence of use, and concomitant medications). Results In total, 1045 patients with a diagnosis of PH were identified, with mean age of 62.9 ± 18.2 years, and 72.3% of females; of which 947 (90.6%) received monotherapy, and 98 (9.4%) received combination therapy at the beginning of follow‐up. The most frequently used drugs for the treatment of PH were calcium channel blockers (58.1%), followed by phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors (41.1%), endothelin receptor antagonist (32.5%), and guanylate cyclase stimulants (9.7%). The schemes used most frequently were monotherapy with amlodipine (31.0%), sildenafil (19.2%), or nifedipine (10.0%), but the main combination were sildenafil with nifedipine (2.5%). The mean of persistence of use was 161 ± 123 days during 1 year of follow‐up. Conclusions This group of patients with PH from Colombia were treated predominantly with monotherapy of calcium channel blockers and phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors. However, current clinical practice guidelines recommend the use of combined therapy. The average persistence of the use of drugs for treatment for less than 6 months may be associated with difficulties in follow‐up, adherence, effectiveness, tolerability, and access.
ISSN:1752-6981
1752-699X