THE USE OF TELEMEDICINE IN PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION - A PILOT STUDY

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare disease whose treatment is concentrated in specialized treatment centres. The severity of the disease and the specific pharmacotherapy used require the need for intensive monitoring of health status and ongoing treatment. Telemedicine solutions open the way to new possibilities for monitoring patients and optimising treatment to improve quality of life and prognosis. The available evidence for the application of telemedicine in PAH is still limited.

Study design and methods: A total of 24 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension were enrolled in a prospective, non-randomized study. Patients were divided 1:1 to standard care and use of telemedicine intervention. The telemedicine intervention included regular use of a dedicated mobile phone/tablet app with measurement of vital signs by an external device (blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, body weight), as well as the possibility of use video consultation, messaging, sending photos and other files. After 6 months of intervention, the incidence of rehospitalization for worsening PAH, natruretic peptides (NT-proBNP) levels and quality of life measured by questionnaires (LPH, GSE, Beck scale) were compared.

Results: In the telemedicine group, there was a trend towards a nonsignificant decrease in natriuretic peptide levels (NT-proBNP: -135.7 ng/l in telemedicine group vs. +100.87 ng/l in control group; p=0.25) and a significant improvement in quality of life parameters assessed by the questionnaire (LPH: -18 vs. +2; p<0.05; GSE +8 vs. 0; p<0.05). No difference in rehospitalizations was observed between the two groups.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated the feasibility of telemedicine intervention in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and the improvement of quality of life parameters using this intervention.