title: [Screening of pulmonary hypertension in a Spanish cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is an important cause of morbimortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Evolution is worse than that of subjects with idiopathic PAH, but prognosis improves when PAH is diagnosed early. The aim of this research is to describe results of a screening program for diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) carried out in a cohort of Spanish patients with SSc.
  
  
  METHODS
  PH screening was performed by transthoracic doppler echocardiography (TTDE) in 184 patients with SSc. Patients with systolic pulmonary arterial pressure estimated by TTDE>35 mmHg were evaluated per protocol to confirm diagnosis and type of PH.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PAH was diagnosed in 25 patients (13.6%). Patients with diffuse and limited SSc developed PAH in a similar degree, 9/60 (15%) vs. 16/100 (16%), with no cases among patients with SSc "sine scleroderma" or "pre-scleroderma" (P<.001). The only clinical or epidemiological data characterizing patients with PAH were older age (mean age 67 years for patients with PAH vs. 56 years for those without PAH, P=.007), limited SSc, a trend toward shorter evolution of the underlying disease (median 8 years for patients with PAH vs. 10 years for those without PAH, P=.73), and a higher frequency of positive anticentromere antibodies (16 patients [64%] with PAH vs. 70 (48,3%) without PAH, P=.19).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prevalence of PAH in SSc was high and supports the implementation of a regular screening program.
authors.affiliation: Servivio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España. Electronic address: pacolageno@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Francisco José
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: García Hernández
authors.affiliation: Servivio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: María Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Castillo Palma
authors.affiliation: Servivio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Montero Mateos
authors.affiliation: Servivio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: Rocío
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: González León
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: José Eduardo
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: López Haldón
authors.affiliation: Servivio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, España.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez Román
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications*; D013030:Spain
keywords: Cribado; Esclerosis sistémica; Hipertensión pulmonar; Pulmonary hypertension; Screening; Systemic sclerosis