Role of Bosentan in Pulmonary arterial hypertension

Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension is an invariably fatal clinical condition often complicating some medical conditions like the HIV and sickle cell disease amongst others. It is a manageable disorder often missed diagnosed in clinical practice; this could be due the fact that detecting the condition could be a simple but rather complex of clinical decisions as presentation could be classical or non-specific with vague symptoms and or signs. This review is aimed at sensitising the clinician to be more vigilant of pulmonary arterial hypertension and further emphasizing the role played by bosentan in its management. Bosentan, an oral non-specific endothelin-receptor antagonist with dual activity on both Endothelin A and Endothelin B receptors, has been shown to improve the patient's quality of life on the overall.

Keywords: Pulmonary arterial hypertension, bosentan, endothelin receptors, hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia

The Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 51 (4) 2007: pp. 64-70