title: Pulmonary hypertension in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Using Doppler echocardiography (DE), we measured pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients without coexisting cardiopulmonary diseases. Accepting the normal upper limit of PASP as 30 mmHg, we found elevated PASP in 11 out of 40 (27.5%) RA patients, values being mostly 30-40 mmHg, indicating mild pulmonary hypertension (PHT). Although estimation of PASP by DE is not as reliable as cardiac catheterisation, it is possible that mild elevations in PASP may contribute to the high incidence of cardiovascular events not explained by traditional cardiac risk factors in patients with RA. Long-term follow-up will be obviously necessary to ascertain the impact of mild PHT on the prognosis and mortality rate of RA patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Ege University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. agkkeser@hotmail.com
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Keser
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Capar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aksu
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Inal
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Danaoğlu
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Savas
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Oksel
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tunc
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kabasakal
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kitapcioglu
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Doganavsargil
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors