title: Multidetector computed tomography for detection and characterization of pulmonary hypertension in consideration of WHO classification.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the reliability of various multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) parameters for diagnosis and severity assessment of pulmonary hypertension (PH) with consideration of World Health Organization (WHO) classification.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 172 patients were included in this retrospective study. One hundred fourteen patients had a diagnosis of PH (mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mm Hg), and 58 patients without PH (mean pulmonary artery pressure <20 mm Hg) served as control subjects. The patients with PH were grouped according to the WHO classification based on PH etiology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patients with PH had significantly greater main, left, and right pulmonary artery diameters than the control subjects (P < 0.001). No significant differences within the PH subgroups were found. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed reasonable sensitivity and specificity for selected MDCT parameters. The severity of PH did not correlate with MDCT parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Easy-to-determine MDCT parameters allow detection of PH independent of the WHO group. In patients with dilated aorta, the vertebra can be an alternative internal standard. Severity of PH cannot be estimated by MDCT parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Germany. christian.dornia@klinik.uni-regensburg.de
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dornia
authors.forename: Tobias J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Gundula
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Behrens
authors.forename: Jaroslava
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stiefel
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Müller-Wille
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poschenrieder
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leitzmann
authors.forename: Daria
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Manos
authors.forename: Judith L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Babar
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stroszczynski
authors.forename: Okka W
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Hamer
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000145:classification* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014944:World Health Organization