[Effect of oxygen therapy on chronic pulmonary artery hypertension]

The haemodynamic definition of chronic cor pulmonale is precapillary pulmonary artery hypertension (P.A.H.T.), which determines the long term prognosis of chronic respiratory failure (C.R.F.) due to chronic obstructive airways disease (C.O.A.D.). The essential element of the various causes for an increase in pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) is an increase in pulmonary arterial resistance secondary to alveolar hypoxia. At the present time, only long term oxygen therapy at home seems capable of limiting the progression of P.A.H.T., with a favourable influence on survival as demonstrated by two recent Anglo-Saxon multicenter surveys. The value of new drugs which have been proposed as a complement to or even a replacement for oxygen therapy, such as Almitrine dimesylate and Nifedipine, is currently being evaluated.