The objective of this project is to determine how pulmonary vascular remodeling in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) at cellular and pathological level is associated with gas exchange physiology changes and hemodynamics (monitored with 129Xe MRI/MRS) and how these signals change with disease progression or treatment.
The clinical and research need for noninvasive biomarkers in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has led the study team to develop 129Xe magnetic resonance imaging (129Xe MRI) to image pulmonary vascular pathology through quantitative 3D maps of gas transfer across the pulmonary blood-gas barrier. 129Xe MRI, in combination with 129Xe spectroscopy (MRS), has a unique signature in PAH and can simultaneously measure capillary blood volume and hemodynamic changes associated with pulmonary vascular remodeling (Wang '19a). This project aims to determine how pulmonary vascular remodeling in PAH at a cellular and pathological level is related to gas exchange physiology changes and hemodynamics (monitored with 129Xe MRI/MRS) and the change in these signals over one year in patients with "stable" PAH. Our central hypothesis is that patients with "stable" PAH will display persistent abnormalities on 129Xe MRI/MRS consistent with pulmonary vascular remodeling and that some patients may have worsening of their disease while appearing to be "stable" disease. The study team will assess the ability of 129Xe MRI to longitudinally monitor disease progression in patients with "stable" PAH. First, the team will enroll "stable" PAH patients and obtain detailed clinical information to be stored in the REDCAP database. The study team will then follow this cohort of PAH subjects for one year, performing 129Xe MRI scans at baseline, 3 months, 6 months and one year in addition to their standard-of-care assessments including appointments labs, echo, and 6MWTs.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Hyperpolarized Xenon Gas
Change in pulmonary vascular function
Measured by RBC/Membrane metrics on Xe MRI
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
Change in pulmonary vascular function
Measured by RBC shift metrics on Xe MRI
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
Change in pulmonary vascular functoin
Measured by RBC amplitude oscillation metrics on Xe MRI
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
Six Minute Walk Test Distance (6MWD)
Distance patient is able to walk during a six minute walk test
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
NTproBNP
Lab value of NTproBNP
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
World Health Organization (WHO) Functional Class (FC)
Change in Functional Class of Pulmonary Hypertension symptoms
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
Hopsitalizations
Frequency of hospitalizations
Time frame: Baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year
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