Pulmonary edema complicating prostacyclin therapy in pulmonary hypertension associated with scleroderma - A case of pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis
Mk. Gugnani et al., Pulmonary edema complicating prostacyclin therapy in pulmonary hypertension associated with scleroderma - A case of pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis, ARTH RHEUM, 43(3), 2000, pp. 699-703
Continuous intravenous infusion of prostacyclin is an effective treatment f
or primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH), and has recently been shown to be
of benefit in PH associated with scleroderma (SSc). Pulmonary capillary hem
angiomatosis (PCH) is a rare cause of PPH, Prostacyclin therapy has been co
mplicated by pulmonary edema in cases of PCH, We describe a case of PH asso
ciated with limited SSc, where treatment with prostacyclin was complicated
by pulmonary edema. Autopsy revealed PCH as the pathologic basis for the PH
. There were no clinical features of PCH prior to initiation of vasodilator
therapy, illustrating the potential difficulty in establishing the diagnos
is. This is the first reported case of PCH in SSc.