HYBRID INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION (PAH)
Novel Treatment Options – A Challenge for Accurate Diagnosis, Prognosis and Follow up Assessment
October 22nd, 2025, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Dear collegues,
On October 22nd, 2025, we cordially invite you to a hybrid international symposium on
PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTESION (PAH) which will take place via ZOOM and live in the seminar room on the 5th floor of the University Medical Center Ljubljana from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
For attending the meeting in the seminar room, please contact Bernarda Bregar (bernarda.bregar@kclj.si).
Date: October 22, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM
Since we encounter PAH patients at all levels of care, from primary to tertiary, everyone is welcome, from family doctors to specialists in all fields of internal medicine, especially pulmonologists, cardiologists, and rheumatologists, as PAH is most commonly encountered in these fields.
Although the disease is rare, knowledge about proper diagnosis and treatment is important for everyone, as it significantly improves both the quality of life and survival of patients with this otherwise fatal disease.
For the organizing committee:
Assist. Polona Mlakar, MD, PhD, Specialist in Internal Medicine, Head of the Pulmonary Hypertension Center, Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Allergies, UMC Ljubljana
Assist. Prof. Matevž Harlander, MD, PhD, Specialist in Pulmonology, Head of the Clinical Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Allergies, UMC Ljubljana
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SYMPOSIUM (see also the program)
Together with colleagues from abroad we will present the latest developments in the modern approach to the treatment of patients with PAH in two sections: about the treatment and diagnosis of PAH.
SECTION 1: CURRENT SPECIFIC TREATMENT OF PAH AND THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
We are pleased that Prof. Irene Marthe Lang from AKH Vienna, a world-renowned expert in the field of both PAH diagnosis and treatment, will give an introductory lecture reviewing modern treatment methods using established specific drugs and a presentation on how to implement the completely new drug SOTATERCEPT into current treatment regimens, which will be a breakthrough for at least some subgroups of PAH patients, significantly improving the course of the disease.
Prof. Grzegorz Kopeć from Krakow, Poland, will present facts about the drug SOTATERCEPT: from how it was discovered to the clinical trials (in which he played an important role) that placed sotatercept among the recommended drugs for PAH. We will then share our initial experiences with sotatercept with those from Croatia and Serbia. This section will end by focusing on the so-called "second HIT" factors (such as chronic inflammation, sleep related breathing disorders metabolic syndrome) that are involved in the pathogenesis of PAH and should be treated to improve the course of the disease.
Together with colleagues from Croatia and Serbia we will present our first expiriences with sotatercept.
SESSION 2: NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN DIAGNOSTICS USING ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AND RIGHT HEART CATHETERIZATION
Given all the new treatment options, it is crucial to set the correct diagnosis of PAH, with echocardiography still playing a key role as a screening method and right heart catheterization as a confirmatory method in diagnosis, prognosis prediction and treatment monitoring.
We will present how new approaches in both echocardiography and right heart catheterization can be used to diagnose PAH with greater reliability and differentiate it from postcapillary pulmonary hypertension (most commonly left-sided heart failure with preserved ejection fraction - HFpEF). This is crucial for making the right decision about the introduction of specific drugs. This way we ensure that only those patients who actually have the disease will receive appropriate treatment.
Organizing Committee
Assist. Prof. Barbara Salobir, MD, PhD, Specialist in Internal Medicine and Pulmonology, Consultant for Pulmonary Hypertension, Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Allergies, UMC Ljubljana
Assist. Polona Mlakar, MD, PhD, Specialist in Internal Medicine, Head of the Pulmonary Hypertension Center, Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Allergies, UMC Ljubljana
Assist. Prof. Marta Cvijić, MD, PhD, Specialist in Cardiology, Department of Noninvasive Cardiac Investigations, Clinical Department of Cardiology, UMC Ljubljana
Assist. Prof. Matevž Harlander, MD, PhD, Specialist in Pulmonology, Head of the Clinical Department of Pulmonary Diseases and Allergies, UMC Ljubljana
Schematic representation of pulmonary vasculopathy in PAH and current targets for specific drugs: endothelin pathway, nitric oxide (NO) pathway, and prostacyclin pathway.
Proposed Mechanism of Action for a novel drug for PAH - a fusion protein Sotatercept. It restore balance between growth-promoting and growth-inhibiting signaling pathways by binding activins and growth differentiation factors.
N Engl J Med 2021; 384: 1204-1215 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2024277
REGISTRATION
PROGRAM
11:00–11:05
Welcoming address /
Assist. Prof. Matevž Harlander, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
11:05–11:10
Introduction: The challenges raised by new treatment options for pulmonary arterial hypertension /
Assist.Prof. Barbara Salobir, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
CURRENT AND NOVEL TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR PAH
- did we reach the breaking point?
- "second hit" a perspective in searching for additional treatment?
CHAIRS:
Prof. Irene Marthe Lang, AKH Vienna, Austria, Assist.
Polona Mlakar, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
11:10–11:40
11:40–12:10
12:10–12:25
12:25–12:40
12:40–12:55
12:55–13:10
13:10–13:25
Current and novel treatment options for PAH – DID WE REACH THE BREAKING POINT?
HOW FROM HERE ON? /
Prof. Irene Marthe Lang, AKH Vienna, Austria
SOTATERCEPT - a next-generation, novel therapy for PAH, from bench to bedside /
Prof. Grzegorzc Kopeć, PCC, John Pavel II Hospital, Krakow, Poland
Current and novel treatment options for PAH – first experiences with sotatercept in Serbia /
Prof. Arsen Ristić, UMC Belgrade, Serbia
Current and novel treatment options for PAH – first experiences with sotatercept in Croatia /
Fedža Džubur, MD, PhD, UMC Zagreb, Croatia
Current and novel treatment options for PAH – first experiences with sotatercept in Slovenia /
Assist. Polona Mlakar, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
Inflammation - a “second hit” and a marker of worse prognosis in PAH – preliminary study on SAA (serum amyloid A) from our single-center study /
Anže Žgank, MD, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
OSA and metabolic syndrome – a “second hit” potentially treatable, often overlooked “second hit” in patients with PAH – preliminary results from our single-center study /
Nadja Koren-Pucelj, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
Round table with discussion (All participants): Current and novel treatment options for PAH – how from here on in the region
SHORT COFFEE BREAK
ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AND RIGHT HEART CATETERISATION IN PAH: inevitably necessary methods that still complement each other in both diagnosis and prognosis assesment of PAH
CHAIRS:
Assist. Prof. Marta Cvijić, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia;
Prof. Jovan Matijašević, Institute for Pulmonary diseases of Vojvodina, Serbia
13:35–14:00
14:00–14:15
14:15–14:30
14:30–15:00
15:00–15:15
15:30
Echocardiographic assessment in pulmonary hypertension-can we improve accuracy
to detect precapillary PH? /
Assist. Prof. Marta Cvijić, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
Role of echocardiography in early detection of PH in patients with systemic sclerosis /
Janez Toplišek, MD, PhD, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
Prognostic value of echocardiographic parameters in patients with PAH /
Mojca Škafar, MD, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
Right heart catheterization – still gold standard for both diagnosis and prognosis assessment in PAH? /
Prof. Jovan Matijašević, Institute for Pulmonary diseases of Vojvodina, Serbia
Right heart catheterization – challenges in distinguishing precapillary from postcapillary PH before treatment decision /
David Lestan, MD, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
Round table with discussion (All participants): Echocardiography vs RHC – how to complement each other in the diagnostics and follow-up of PAH treatment efficacy now and in the future
Closing remarks /
Assist. Prof. Matevž Harlander, UMC Ljubljana, Slovenia
Technical support:
Zavod za strokovno izobraževanje in podporo inovacijam E-coopedu
Contact:
Internet page:
