title: Pulmonary arterial hypertension: the key role of echocardiography.
abstract: Given the nonspecific nature of its early symptoms and signs, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is often diagnosed in its advanced stages. Although clinical assessment is essential when initially evaluating patients with suspected PAH, echocardiography is a key screening tool in the diagnostic algorithm. It not only provides an estimate of pulmonary pressure at rest and during exercise, but it may also help to exclude any secondary causes of pulmonary hypertension, predict the prognosis, monitor the efficacy of specific therapeutic interventions, and detect the preclinical stage of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Respiratory Disease, University of Milan, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore, Milan, Italy. bossone@isbem.cnrsm.it <bossone@isbem.cnrsm.it>
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bossone
authors.forename: Bruno Dino
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Bodini
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazza
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Allegra
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001794:Blood Pressure; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011379:Prognosis; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right