Canadian researchers are calling it a whole new strategy in the search for a cure for pulmonary arterial hypertension, a progressive and life-threatening disease that affects men and women of all ages and all ethnic and racial backgrounds.
A team at The Ottawa Hospital has just published promising results in the journal Circulation Research of the first clinical trial in the world of a genetically-enhanced stem cell therapy to repair and regenerate lung blood vessels.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, is characterized by very high pressure in the arteries supplying blood to the lungs, putting a strain on the heart. If persistent, it can lead to acute or sudden respiratory failure.
Currently, available drugs can modestly improve symptoms that include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, dizziness, fainting, weakness, and ankle swelling but cannot repair blood vessel damage to the lungs or cure the diseases.
It remains unclear how many people are affected by PAH. Estimates range from one in 100,000 to 1,000,000 people.
What is known is that it most commonly affects young women in their thirties and about twice as many cases are reported in women as in men.
The senior author of Ottawa study is Dr. Duncan Stewart. He is a senior scientist and executive vice-president of Research at The Ottawa Hospital, a professor at the University of Ottawa and a practicing cardiologist.
He joined RCI by phone from Ottawa.
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