Introduction:

the detection of pulmonary vasoreactivity in pulmonary hypertension is important to determine the benefit of treatment with long-term calcium antagonists. In recent years, iloprost has been used as an alternative to perform the test with good results, so it is important to evaluate its response in patients with this disease.

Methods:

a quasi-experimental, uncontrolled study with before and after design to evaluate the response to an inhaled vasodilator in patients referred to the hemodynamic laboratory for pulmonary reactivity tests. A non-probabilistic sample was analyzed for convenience with the described cohort.

Right catheterization was performed with measurements of hemodynamic parameters and the response to administration of 10 mcg of inhaled iloprost was performed in these patients. The test was considered positive if mean pulmonary artery pressure decreased >10 mmHg to <40 mmHg, with or without cardiac output increase.

Results:

30 patients were included; mean age was 55.5 ± 12 years, 76.7% were women and the left ventricular ejection fraction was 52 ± 10%. The test was considered positive in 16.7% of cases, without complications related to the use of the drug. There was significant increase in cardiac output with an important decrease in systemic vascular resistance (1279 ± 438 vs 1110 ± 379, p = 0.000004), pulmonary vascular resistance (483 ± 210 vs 383 ± 185, p = 0.000002), blood pressure (47 ± 6 vs 39 ± 7, p = 0.000002), and wedge pressure of the pulmonary artery (16 ± 5 vs. 15 ± 4, p <0.00009).

Conclusion:

The use of inhaled iloprost in doses of 10 mcg in patients with pulmonary hypertension taken to right cardiac catheterization is an alternative to identify vasoreactivity with low rate of adverse events. (Acta Med Colomb 2016; 40: 229-234).