Iloprost for the Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), or high blood pressure in the lungs, is common in patients with congenital heart disease. Historically these patients suffered significant morbidity and mortality due to a lack of effective therapies. More recently, advanced therapies which target the mechanisms underlying the development and progression of PAH have been introduced into clinical care. Oral, intravenous, subcutaneous, and inhaled therapies are all available for the treatment of PAH. Patients with PAH are first treated with oral agents (including sildenafil and bosentan). However, if these agents fail to achieve the desired effect for the patient, intravenous or inhaled therapies may be initiated. Combination therapy with multiple agents is common in routine clinical care. However, the most efficacious therapeutic regimen has yet to be delineated. The present study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of one specific regimen: iloprost, an inhaled prostacyclin derivative, used in combination with oral therapy (sildenafil and/or bosentan). Iloprost has been approved by the FDA for use in this patient population. Adults with PAH already receiving oral therapy will be invited to participate in this study. Iloprost will be added to their current therapeutic regimen for a period of three months, with pre- and post-treatment assessments. These will include a cardiopulmonary exercise test, BNP (a blood test), six minute walking distance, and a quality of life questionnaire.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension; Congenital Heart Disease; Eisenmenger's Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Iloprost

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 5
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
      • Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age greater than or equal to 18 years old
• Congenital heart disease with pulmonary arterial hypertension and cyanosis (resting oxygen saturation < 90% on room air)
• Stable on oral therapy (PDE5 inhibitor and/or endothelin blockade) for at least three months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age < 18 years old
• Current intravenous or subcutaneous prostacyclin therapy
• Resting Systemic Hypotension (Systolic blood pressure < 85 mmHg)
• Women who are pregnant or may become pregnant (unwilling to utilize effective contraception), as well as nursing mothers
• Inability to ambulate
• Planned surgical procedure during the study period

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: NA
• Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Iloprost; Participants will be administered iloprost at 5 mcg/dose x 6 doses daily for 3 months.	Drug: Iloprost; Aerosolized iloprost, 5 mcg/dose x 6 doses daily for 3 months; Other Names: Ventavis, prostacyclin analogue

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Safety and Tolerability	Number of Participants with adverse events, specifically mortality and heart failure.	3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exercise Capacity	Change in exercise duration (modified Bruce protocol), maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), and/or VE/VCO2 ratio.	3 months
Serum Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP)	Change in serum BNP level	3 months
Quality of Life	Change in quality of life as assessed by SF-36 QOL	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles
• Collaborators: Actelion
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jamil A Aboulhosn, MD, Ahmanson / UCLA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Barst RJ, Rubin LJ, Long WA, McGoon MD, Rich S, Badesch DB, Groves BM, Tapson VF, Bourge RC, Brundage BH, Koerner SK, Langleben D, Keller CA, Murali S, Uretsky BF, Clayton LM, Jobsis MM, Blackburn SD, Shortino D, Crow JW; Primary Pulmonary Hypertension Study Group. A comparison of continuous intravenous epoprostenol (prostacyclin) with conventional therapy for primary pulmonary hypertension. N Engl J Med. 1996 Feb 1;334(5):296-301. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199602013340504.
• Beghetti M, Tissot C. Pulmonary arterial hypertension in congenital heart diseases. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2009 Aug;30(4):421-8. doi: 10.1055/s-0029-1233311. Epub 2009 Jul 24.
• Humbert M, Morrell NW, Archer SL, Stenmark KR, MacLean MR, Lang IM, Christman BW, Weir EK, Eickelberg O, Voelkel NF, Rabinovitch M. Cellular and molecular pathobiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004 Jun 16;43(12 Suppl S):13S-24S. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2004.02.029.
• Niwa K, Perloff JK, Kaplan S, Child JS, Miner PD. Eisenmenger syndrome in adults: ventricular septal defect, truncus arteriosus, univentricular heart. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1999 Jul;34(1):223-32. doi: 10.1016/s0735-1097(99)00153-9.
• Daliento L, Somerville J, Presbitero P, Menti L, Brach-Prever S, Rizzoli G, Stone S. Eisenmenger syndrome. Factors relating to deterioration and death. Eur Heart J. 1998 Dec;19(12):1845-55. doi: 10.1053/euhj.1998.1046.
• Christman BW. Lipid mediator dysregulation in primary pulmonary hypertension. Chest. 1998 Sep;114(3 Suppl):205S-207S. doi: 10.1378/chest.114.3_supplement.205s.
• Badesch DB, Tapson VF, McGoon MD, Brundage BH, Rubin LJ, Wigley FM, Rich S, Barst RJ, Barrett PS, Kral KM, Jobsis MM, Loyd JE, Murali S, Frost A, Girgis R, Bourge RC, Ralph DD, Elliott CG, Hill NS, Langleben D, Schilz RJ, McLaughlin VV, Robbins IM, Groves BM, Shapiro S, Medsger TA Jr. Continuous intravenous epoprostenol for pulmonary hypertension due to the scleroderma spectrum of disease. A randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2000 Mar 21;132(6):425-34. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-132-6-200003210-00002.
• Simonneau G, Barst RJ, Galie N, Naeije R, Rich S, Bourge RC, Keogh A, Oudiz R, Frost A, Blackburn SD, Crow JW, Rubin LJ; Treprostinil Study Group. Continuous subcutaneous infusion of treprostinil, a prostacyclin analogue, in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002 Mar 15;165(6):800-4. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.165.6.2106079.
• Olschewski H, Simonneau G, Galie N, Higenbottam T, Naeije R, Rubin LJ, Nikkho S, Speich R, Hoeper MM, Behr J, Winkler J, Sitbon O, Popov W, Ghofrani HA, Manes A, Kiely DG, Ewert R, Meyer A, Corris PA, Delcroix M, Gomez-Sanchez M, Siedentop H, Seeger W; Aerosolized Iloprost Randomized Study Group. Inhaled iloprost for severe pulmonary hypertension. N Engl J Med. 2002 Aug 1;347(5):322-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa020204.
• McLaughlin VV, Oudiz RJ, Frost A, Tapson VF, Murali S, Channick RN, Badesch DB, Barst RJ, Hsu HH, Rubin LJ. Randomized study of adding inhaled iloprost to existing bosentan in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006 Dec 1;174(11):1257-63. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200603-358OC. Epub 2006 Aug 31.
• Krug S, Sablotzki A, Hammerschmidt S, Wirtz H, Seyfarth HJ. Inhaled iloprost for the control of pulmonary hypertension. Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2009;5(1):465-74. doi: 10.2147/vhrm.s3223.
• Hallioglu O, Dilber E, Celiker A. Comparison of acute hemodynamic effects of aerosolized and intravenous iloprost in secondary pulmonary hypertension in children with congenital heart disease. Am J Cardiol. 2003 Oct 15;92(8):1007-9. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9149(03)00991-3.
• Limsuwan A, Khosithseth A, Wanichkul S, Khowsathit P. Aerosolized iloprost for pulmonary vasoreactivity testing in children with long-standing pulmonary hypertension related to congenital heart disease. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2009 Jan 1;73(1):98-104. doi: 10.1002/ccd.21793.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: June 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2013
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): May 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 18, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 18, 2011
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): March 21, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE): January 26, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 13, 2015
• Last Verified: January 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Congenital Heart Disease; Prostacyclin; Iloprost; Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension; Eisenmenger's Syndrome
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cardiovascular Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Congenital Abnormalities; Hypertension, Pulmonary; Cardiovascular Abnormalities; Heart Diseases; Hypertension; Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension; Heart Defects, Congenital; Eisenmenger Complex; Vasodilator Agents; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; Iloprost
• Other Study ID Numbers: Iloprost ACHD