In the study, all but one of the patients who received prostacyclin therapy showed major improvements in their blood vessels after being treated for an average of 17 months. Luke's Medical Center. The results are reported in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. Prostacyclin therapy isn't without drawbacks, doctors said. The drug must be continuously infused from a portable battery-powered pump into a catheter implanted in the chest.
Side effects are considerable and include diarrhea, jaw pain, headaches, nausea, and flushing.
Dosage must be increased frequently as patients become tolerant to the drug. For now, pulmonary hypertension patients must stay on the Flolan pump indefinitely. But the Rush researchers speculate that after several years of treatment, some patients could be weaned off the pump. Although not cured, these patients might be able to sustain their improvement using oral treatments for high-blood pressure. The diet drugs Redux and Pondimin were recalled by American Home Products Corp. last fall because of concern about heart valve side effects.