Atrial flutter regression in HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension after treatment with bosentan

Submitted: September 27, 2016
Accepted: November 14, 2016
Published: November 29, 2016
Abstract Views: 1141
PDF: 484
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare condition characterized by an increase in pulmonary arterial resistance leading to right heart failure and death. Arrhythmias are a growing problem in PAH; therefore, maintenance of sinus rhythm is considered to be an important treatment aim in these patients. We described the case of a 46-year-old woman with HIV-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension  who developed atrial flutter. After treatment with bosentan, it was observed a significant improvement in clinical and haemodynamic parameters. In addition, the AFL, which had previously persisted to both antiarrhythmic drug therapy and electrical stimulation, and had recurred after transthoracic electrical cardioversion, disappeared  in absence of any antiarrhythmic drug. Though the precise factors responsible for supraventricular arrhythmogenesis are still largely obscure, it is likely that initiation and maintenance of AFL may depend on all the conditions that can lead to increase in right atrial pressure, size, and wall stress, such as PAH. In our case, bosentan reduced both mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) value and right heart chambers pressures. Therefore, it is conceivable that with the anatomical substrate needed for the maintenance of AFL being disappeared, sinus rhythm was restored.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

How to Cite

Damiani, Mario Francesco, Cristina Scoditti, Elioda Bega, Silvano Dragonieri, Pierluigi Carratù, Alfredo Scoditti, and Onofrio Resta. 2016. “Atrial Flutter Regression in HIV-Associated Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension After Treatment With Bosentan”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 83 (1-2). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2016.794.