Bayer Launches Educational Website For CTEPH

Bayer announced that it has launched a new educational online resource for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). The educational website www.CTEPH.com is primarily aimed at healthcare professionals working with the disease.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is a rare form of pulmonary hypertension in which pressure in the pulmonary arteries builds up due to blood clots and thromboembolic occlusion of the pulmonary vessels. The new website covers the basics of the disease along with diagnosis, treatment, and reassessment. It provides healthcare professionals the clinical definition of CTEPH, signs and symptoms that may suggest CTEPH, and diagnostic tools that can help identify and exclude the disease. The site also briefs readers on pulmonary endarterectomy, currently the only potentially curative treatment for CTEPH.

The company said it worked with a panel of CTEPH experts to develop the content and direction of the new website. William R. Auger, Research Director of Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy Program at the University of California, San Diego, said, “CTEPH.com will be a valuable resource for clinicians. Bringing together the latest in scientific literature and expert opinion, this unique educational tool will provide accurate and up-to-date information on the evaluation and appropriate management of patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.  I believe this will be a valuable information site for those healthcare providers caring for patients with this devastating form of pulmonary hypertension.”

About 600,000 patients in the U.S. have an acute PE every year. There are between 500 and 2,500 new cases of CTEPH diagnosis per year. However, many patients with PH are not correctly diagnosed with CTEPH due to lack of overt PE history. Symptoms of CTEPH can be vague and indistinguishable from those of other forms of PH.

Bayer stated that every patient diagnosed with CTEPH should undergo evaluation of an expert CTEPH team which includes a CTEPH physician and PEA surgeons to assess their eligibility for PEA surgery.

Richard Channick, Director of Pulmonary Hypertension and Thromboemdarterectomy Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital, said, “As a physician caring for many patients with CTEPH, I have personally seen how lack of knowledge of this condition can negatively affect patient care. This resource will have huge value in raising awareness and informing healthcare providers about CTEPH, which will, in turn, help patients.”