RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Fatal pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with phenylpropanolamine exposure
JF Heart
JO Heart
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Cardiovascular Society
SP e42
OP e42
DO 10.1136/hrt.2004.036491
VO 90
IS 7
A1 R J Barst
A1 L Abenhaim
YR 2004
UL http://heart.bmj.com/content/90/7/e42.abstract
AB Exogenous substances such as the appetite suppressant fenfluramine are known to be causally related to the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In these cases, the clinical course as well as the pulmonary vascular disease pathologically is indistinguishable from idiopathic PAH. Other exogenous substances, such as amphetamines, cocaine, and meta-amphetamines, have been considered to be potential risk factors for inducing PAH. SOPHIA (the study of pulmonary hypertension in America), in addition to confirming previous reports of a causal association between the appetite suppressant fenfluramine and PAH, unexpectedly found a significantly increased risk for the development of PAH with exposure to over-the-counter antiobesity agents containing phenylpropanolamine. The first case is reported of fatal PAH in a child heavily treated with cold remedies containing phenylpropanolamine, which, in addition to the results of SOPHIA, strengthens the hypothesis that phenylpropanolamine is a risk factor for the development of PAH.