The Primary Care Guide to PAH: From Detection to Long-term Management

Release Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 Expiration Date: Thursday, December 2, 2021

EDUCATIONAL OVERVIEW

The management of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has undergone a vast transformation over the past decade with an improved understanding of the disease and an expansion of treatment options. Though patient survival was once considered the main treatment goal of PAH, outcomes can now include improved hemodynamics, prevention of clinical worsening, and improved quality of life. A key challenge in improving outcomes is early identification of the disease and initiating aggressive treatment. Greater emphasis is also being placed in identifying prognostic factors and assessing patient risk in order to tailor therapy accordingly.

Treatment options for PAH are complex and dosing regimens must be specifically followed to avoid serious safety consequences. Research in the pathophysiology of PAH has revealed three major pathways involved in the disease process: the endothelin, nitric oxide, and prostacyclin pathways. Over the past two decades, several treatment options have become available that target these pathways that allow clinicians flexibility is designing optimal regimens. For patients with PAH, outcomes are often hindered by a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Primary care providers can play an important role in identifying the early signs of PAH and providing appropriate screening/diagnostic testing for early detection of disease. For patients being actively treated for PAH, PCPs must be aware of special considerations when managing coexisting or underlying conditions. This activity discusses the overall understanding of the disease pathophysiology and the medications used in the treatment of PAH.

TARGET AUDIENCE

This continuing medical education activity meets the needs of primary care providers who can contribute to early detection of disease and who are responsible for the long-term management of patients with PAH.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completing this activity, participants will be able to:

Identify screening and diagnostic approaches for early detection and referral of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)
Summarize the current pharmacotherapeutic options available for the treatment of PAH, including an overview of safety and efficacy profiles
Discuss the role of primary care providers as part of the multiprofessional healthcare team in the long-term management of patients with PAH

FACULTY

	Dustin Fraidenburg, MD Assistant Professor Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Program Department of Medicine Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL

Physicians

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) and Vemco MedEd. Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Center designates this Enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistants
AAPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for the PRA from organizations accredited by ACCME.

Nurse Practitioners
Nurse Practitioners will receive certificate of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ as this is an ACCME accredited program and its accreditation is recognized by Nurse Practitioner boards.

For questions regarding the accreditation of this activity, please contact us at info@jointsponsor.com

Method of Participation and Instruction for Credit

Review the entire CME information including target audience, learning objectives, and disclosures.
Review the activity in its entirety.
Complete the Online Post Test, Evaluation, and Credit Application form
Please note that to receive credit you must achieve a score of at least 75%.
Certificate of Credit will be emailed to you within 3 weeks.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
In accordance with policies set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Center for Independent Healthcare Education requires all faculty members and spouses/significant others with an opportunity to affect the content of a continuing education activity to disclose any relevant financial relationships during the past 12 months with commercial interests. A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, reselling or distributing health care goods or services consumed by or used on patients. Relationships with commercial interests and conflicts of interest resulting from those relationships must be revealed to the audience and resolved prior to the activity.

Relevant relationships include roles such as speaker, author, consultant, independent contractor (including research), employee, investor, advisory committee member, board member, review panelist, and investigator. If a potential speaker or author indicates a possible conflict of interest, the conflict will be resolved by choosing another speaker or author for that topical area, or the slides, handouts, and/or monograph will be reviewed and approved by a qualified commercially-disinterested peer.

Disclosures
Dustin Fraidenburg, MD has the following relevant financial relationships with commercial interests:
Advisory Board: United Therapeutics

No other speakers, authors, planners or content reviewers have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Content review confirmed that the content was developed in a fair, balanced manner free from commercial bias. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.

Fee
There is no fee to participate in this activity.

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Joint Providership
This activity is jointly provided by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Commercial Support

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc., a Janssen Pharmaceutical Company of Johnson & Johnson.

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