Aim: To study incidence rate and characteristics of pulmonary hypertension development in patients with systemic sclerosis (SS).
Material and methods: The study included 31 SS patients (30 females, 1 male, age 33-75 years, mean age 47.7 +/- 1.7 years).
Results: Pulmonary hypertension occurred more frequently in SS patients with CREST-syndrome than in SS patients free of this syndrome. SS patients with CREST-syndrome had also more severe ventricular hypertrophy than ventricular dilation.
Conclusion: Echocardiography proved to be a highly informative method for detection of pulmonary hypertension in patients with SS. The necessity of hemodynamical study in SS patients is emphasized.