Outcomes of patients with elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure on echocardiography due to chronic lung diseases

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary hypertension is associated with increased mortality, and lung diseases are the second most common cause of pulmonary hypertension. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of echocardiography in low-middle income countries where right heart catheterization is difficult to perform.

Methods: This retrospective chart review study included adult patients hospitalized from June 2012 to May 2021, with a pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) of ≥35 mmHg on echocardiography. The control arm consisted of patients with similar lung diseases who did not have an elevated PASP.

Results: The study and control arm consisted of 128 patients each, with both groups having similar lung diseases. Obesity hypoventilation syndrome was the most common etiology of elevated PASP (28.1 %), followed by pulmonary embolism (20.3 %). The overall 1-year mortality of the study cohort, after diagnosis of elevated PASP, was 20.3 %. The control cohort with normal PASP had a 1-year mortality of 4.7 %. In the study cohort, patients with bronchiectasis had the highest cause-specific 1-year mortality (45.5 %). In the normal PASP cohort, the highest cause-specific 1-year mortality was observed in patients with interstitial lung disease (13.0 %). One-year hospital readmission was observed in 46.9 % and 33.6 % of patients in the study and control arms, respectively. On multivariate analysis, increased odds of 1-year mortality were observed in patients with elevated PASP, patients with 1-year hospital readmission, and in patients with interstitial lung disease or bronchiectasis.

Conclusion: Elevated PASP on echocardiography may be a prognostic factor for mortality in patients with chronic lung diseases.

Keywords: Bronchiectasis; Echocardiogram; Mortality; Obesity-hypoventilation syndrome; Pulmonary hypertension.