Arterial Vascular Volume Changes with Hemodynamics in Schistosomiasis Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Schistosomiasis is a prevalent cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) currently classified as Group 1 pulmonary hypertension (PH) [1]. In comparison to other etiologies of PAH such as idiopathic PAH, Schistosomiasis-associated PAH (Sch-PAH) has not been extensively studied. Potential mechanisms of PAH development in schistosomiasis include systemic and localised lung inflammation, involvement of other organs such as the liver and spleen, and direct blockage of precapillary vessels from parasite egg embolisation. Currently, the diagnosis of Sch-PAH relies on hemodynamics assessment using right heart catheterisation. In several etiologies of PH, loss of visualised distal vascular volume has been quantified from pulmonary angiography [2, 3] and computed tomography (CT) of the lungs [4–6]. Additionally, loss of distal vascular volume has been shown to be associated with loss of vascular cross-sectional area histologically [7]. In this pilot study we hypothesised that relative loss of arterial pulmonary vascular volume differentially correlates with hemodynamics in Sch-PAH patients, compared to a group of control subjects. Footnotes This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal . It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article. Conflict of interest: Dr. Funke-Chambour reports grants from roche, grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, outside the submitted work;. Dr. Funke-Chambour reports grants from roche, grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, outside the submitted work;. Conflict of interest: Dr. Rahaghi reports grants from NHLBI/NIH, during the conduct of the study. Conflict of interest: Dr. Hilton has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Correa has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Loureiro has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Ota-Arakaki has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Verrastro has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Lee reports other from NANO X IMAGING LTD (NNOX), outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: Dr. Mickael has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Nardelli has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Systrom has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Waxman has nothing to disclose. Conflict of interest: Dr. Washko reports grants from NIH, grants and other from Boehringer Ingelheim, other from Quantitative Imaging Solutions, other from PulmonX, grants and other from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, other from GlaxoSmithKline, other from Novartis, other from Vertex, other from CSL Behring, outside the submitted work; and Dr. Washko's spouse works for Biogen . Conflict of interest: Dr. San Jose Estepar reports grants from NIH-NHLBI, during the conduct of the study; personal fees from LeukoLabs, grants and personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fees from Chiesi, from null, outside the submitted work; and he is also a founder and co-owner of Quantitative Imaging Solutions which is a company that provides image based consulting and develops software to enable data sharing. Conflict of interest: Dr. Graham reports grants from NIH, during the conduct of the study. Conflict of interest: Dr. Oliveira has nothing to disclose.