Possible relationship between pulmonary hypertension and prostaglandins

This study was performed on 20 children with congenital heart defect and left-to-right shunt. These patients were divided into two groups. Group I consisted of 10 patients with normal pulmonary arterial pressure while group IT consisted of 10 patients with pulmonary hypertension. Prostaglandin Like Materials (PLMs) in pulmonary venous and arterial blood which were taken during cardiac catheterization were extracted and biologically assayed for Prostaglandin-Like Activities (PGLA) on rat stomach fundus. In all patients of group I, the ratio of pulmonary venous to pulmonary arterial PGLA levels (PV/PA-PGLA) was found to be less than one. However in group IT, this ratio was less than one in only two patients. In 8 out of the patients in group II, the ratio was either 1 or greater. These data confirmed the early concepts suggesting the role of prostoglandins (PG) in regulating normal pulmonary circulation. In addition these data have suggested that PGs may have an important role in the development of pulmonary hypertension in some cardiac patients.