Beneficial effects of riociguat on hemodynamic responses to exercise in CTEPH patients after balloon pulmonary angioplasty – A randomized controlled study

Abstract Background Although balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) improves symptoms and pulmonary hemodynamics in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), the effects of riociguat on hemodynamics and exercise capacity in patients after BPA remain to be elucidated. Methods and Results This study was a single-center, prospective, randomized, open-label trial. From November 2015 to November 2018, we prospectively examined 21 patients with CTEPH (65 ± 9 years old, M/F 2/19) who showed hemodynamic improvement with mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP)  Conclusions These results indicate that riociguat exerts beneficial effects on hemodynamic response to exercise in CTEPH patients even after hemodynamic improvement by BPA.