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Pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a condition that causes high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. Although adults can also have PAH, it presents unique complications in pediatric populations — especially children who are in their first year of life.
For instance, one of the most common types of pulmonary arterial hypertension is idiopathic, meaning there isn’t a defined cause.
It’s also common for PAH to develop because of development-related lung diseases, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. This creates the need for advanced and invasive therapies, such as balloon atrial septostomy, lung transplantation and pulmonary-to-systemic shunts, all of which carry risks to the patient.
“Our goal is to try to answer all of the questions about imaging and diagnosis and treatments, which is challenging, because pediatrics is typically underrepresented in these types of meetings.”
- DUNBAR IVY, MD
To better address and account for these differences in age, development stage and pathology among PAH patients, the seventh World Symposium on Pediatric Hypertension created a new, dedicated task force to join their 15 total working groups. This new working group was led by Children’s Hospital Colorado pediatric cardiologist Dunbar Ivy, MD.
“This World Symposium is held every five years and it’s an international group of clinicians who treat patients with pulmonary hypertension,” Dr. Ivy says.
For their most recent report (1), the task force held proceedings and defined gaps in care around where further information and research are needed to better support children with PAH. One important area of this consensus discusses how to expand the pool of medications available to providers treating PAH through approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which currently poses many roadblocks.
“Our goal is to try to answer all of the questions about imaging and diagnosis and treatments,” Dr. Ivy says, “which is challenging, because pediatrics is typically underrepresented in these types of meetings.”
Citations
- Ivy, Dunbar et al. “Embracing the challenges of neonatal and paediatric pulmonary hypertension.” The European respiratory journal vol. 64,4 2401345. 31 Oct. 2024, doi:10.1183/13993003.01345-2024.
Featured researcher
Dunbar Ivy, MD
Chief of Pediatric Cardiology
The Heart Institute
Children’s Hospital Colorado
Professor
Pediatrics-Cardiology
University of Colorado School of Medicine
