ACUTE REVERSIBILITY OF PULMONARY-HYPERTENSION PREDICTS NEITHER LONG-TERM HEMODYNAMIC-RESPONSE NOR OUTCOME IN PATIENTS AWAITING HEART-TRANSPLANTATION

For transplant wait-list patients with end-stage congestive heart fail ure, reversibility of pulmonary hypertension tested with acute adminis tration of vasodilators is a prerequisite to listing for transplantati on. We have shown that the magnitude of the initial pulmonary vasodila tory response to nitroprusside predicts neither the extent of the long -term hemodynamic response nor the subsequent need for transplantation versus clinical improvement and removal from transplant consideration .