Home Diseases and Conditions Pulmonary Hypertension

Pulmonary Hypertension

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Development Stage

Early Stage

Focused ultrasound research is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Clinical Trials

Focused ultrasound for this condition is being researched in clinical trials.

International Approval

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites.

FDA Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved focus ultrasound for this condition. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating sites.

Early Stage

Clinical Trials

International

FDA Approved

Focused ultrasound research for this condition is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Focused Ultrasound Therapy 

Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue. 

How it Works 
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces a neuromodulatory effect on the splenic tissue, resulting in significant reductions (25-30%) in the pulmonary hypertension numbers compared to the animal controls.  While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available. 

The primary options for treatment of pulmonary hypertension include medication, but the side effects of these drugs can also be limiting in its effectiveness.   

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a more effective and lower cost alternative to conventional therapy.  

Advantages 

  • Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.
  • Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue.
  • It can be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of pulmonary hypertension.  

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for pulmonary hypertension is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies. 

Notable Papers

Rafikova O, James J, Kudryashova TV. EnFUSiasm for Healing: Ultrasound Neuromodulation in PAH. Circ Res. 2024 Jun 21;135(1):57-59. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.324791. Epub 2024 Jun 20. PMID: 38900858  

Zafeiropoulos S, Ahmed U, Bekiaridou A, Jayaprakash N, Mughrabi IT, Saleknezhad N, Chadwick C, Daytz A, Kurata-Sato I, Atish-Fregoso Y, Carroll K, Al-Abed Y, Fudim M, Puleo C, Giannakoulas G, Nicolls M, Diamond B, Zanos S. Ultrasound Neuromodulation of an Anti-Inflammatory Pathway at the Spleen Improves Experimental Pulmonary Hypertension. Circ Res. 2024 May 7. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.123.323679. PMID: 38712557 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.