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Pulmonary hypertension associated with benfluorex exposure.

Laurent Savale 1, 2 Marie-Camille Chaumais 2 Vincent Cottin 3, 4 Emmanuel Bergot 5 Irène Frachon 6, 7 Grégoire Prevot Christophe Pison 8 Claire Dromer 9 Patrice Poubeau 10 Nicolas Lamblin 11 Gilbert Habib 12 Martine Reynaud-Gaubert 13 Arnaud Bourdin 14 Olivier Sanchez 15 Pascale Tubert-Bitter 16 Xavier Jaïs 1, 2 David Montani 1, 2 Olivier Sitbon 1, 2 Gérald Simonneau 1, 2 Marc Humbert 2
1 UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11
2 Hypertension arterielle pulmonaire physiopathologie et innovation thérapeutique
3 Department of Pneumology [Lyon]
4 Centre de Référence des Maladies Pulmonaires Rares [Hôpital Louis Pradel - HCL]
5 Service de pneumologie [CHU Caen]
6 GETBO - Groupe d'Etude de la Thrombose de Bretagne Occidentale
7 DMIP - Brest - Département de Médecine Interne et Pneumologie [Brest]
8 Clinique de pneumologie
9 Service de chirurgie thoracique
10 Service de Pneumologie et Maladies Infectieuses
11 Hôpital cardiologique
12 Service de cardiologie
13 Service de chirurgie thoracique
14 Service de pneumologie (Montpellier)
15 HEGP - Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou [APHP]
16 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations
Abstract : Benfluorex was marketed in France until 2009, despite its similar pharmacological properties with fenfluramine and its derivatives known to be a cause of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The aim of this study is to report clinical and haemodynamic characteristics for patients suffering from pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with benfluorex exposure that had been identified by the French PAH Network. 85 cases of PH associated with benfluorex exposure were identified by the French PAH Network from June 1999 to March 2011. Of these, 70 patients had confirmed pre-capillary PH. The median duration of exposure was 30 months, with a median of 108 months between start of exposure and diagnosis of the pulmonary vascular disease. 33% of all patients also had prior exposure to fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine, and an additional risk factor for PH was identified in 20 (30%) out of 70 patients with pre-capillary PH. A quarter of patients in this current series showed coexisting PH and mild-to-moderate cardiac valve involvement. The results of our study, together with the accumulated data regarding the known toxic effects of fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine, strongly suggest that benfluorex exposure is a potent trigger for PAH.
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Journal articles
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https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-00932261
Contributor : Ghislaine Calvez <>
Submitted on : Thursday, January 16, 2014 - 3:37:37 PM
Last modification on : Wednesday, January 6, 2021 - 5:14:03 PM

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HCL | CESP | UNIV-BREST | GETBO | UNIV-AMU | UVSQ | COMUE-NORMANDIE | UNICAEN | IBSAM

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Laurent Savale, Marie-Camille Chaumais, Vincent Cottin, Emmanuel Bergot, Irène Frachon, et al.. Pulmonary hypertension associated with benfluorex exposure.. European Respiratory Journal, European Respiratory Society, 2012, 40 (5), pp.1164-72. ⟨10.1183/09031936.00188611⟩. ⟨hal-00932261⟩

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