Long-term domiciliary oxygen in chronic bronchitis with pulmonary hypertension

Five patients with chronic bronchitis and pulmonary hypertension were treated with oxygen in their homes for periods of between 6 and 24 months. Oxygen was supplied for 15 hours daily from cylinders or from an oxygen concentrator and few practical difficulties arose. After 23 to 59 weeks of treatment there were significant decreases in pulmonary arterial pressure and vascular resistance, and four of the five patients no longer had pulmonary hypertension at rest. Two of these patients had shown little response after three weeks of treatment. There was a reduction in the number of episodes of congestive cardiac failure compared with the corresponding period before treatment. Two of the patients improved enough to return to work. These results are encouraging enough to justify a controlled trial of the treatment in a large number of patients.