A new way of assessing heart health in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Harnessing the potential of magnetic resonance augmented cardiopulmonary exercise testing (MR-CPET) in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension is a life-threatening condition in which high blood pressure develops in the blood vessels in the lungs. It is not common, but is extremely serious for those who have it - mostly women – because it can cause the heart to fail. Measuring how well the heart is working is a very important part of monitoring patients with pulmonary hypertension, and it helps to assess how well treatments are working. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is currently the best way to measure how well the heart is pumping. However, people with pulmonary hypertension usually get worse when they exercise, so these researchers believe it may be more useful to make these measurements during physical activity. They have developed several new technologies that make this possible, including one called MR augmented cardio pulmonary exercise testing (MR-CPET). In this project they will investigate whether MR-CPET is a useful way of testing the heart health of people with pulmonary hypertension. They will use the technique it to measure how patients are responding to drug treatment, and to see if they can use it to predict how well a patient will be in the future. In the future MR-CPET could help doctors make decisions about treatment for people with this dangerous condition.