Work completed with our collaborators in Naomi Chesler’s laboratory has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Biomechanics! The paper titled “Pulmonary arterial strain- and remodeling-induced stiffening are differentiated in a chronic model of pulmonary hypertension ” reports our finding that chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension causes stiffening of the large elastic arteries and that this is correlated with changes in their structure.

Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the lung vessels that can ultimately lead to heart failure. There is currently no cure for pulmonary hypertension and the prognosis for these patients is pretty grim.  66% of patients die within five years of their diagnosis. Understanding the factors that contribute to the development of pulmonary hypertension will hopefully lead to new treatments for this devastating.