title: Importance of pulmonary artery to ascending aorta ratio in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent articles revealed that an increased main pulmonary artery to ascending aorta ratio (PA/A) in thorax computed tomography (CT) correlated with pulmonary hypertension, and might be linked to a high probability of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study, our aim was to evaluate the clinical importance of PA/A in patients with exacerbations of COPD and investigate its relationship with the number of exacerbations in 1 year or short/long-term mortality after hospital discharge.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred fifty-six patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbations who fulfilled our inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. We recorded the number of exacerbations in 1 year from hospital records, checked mortality status, and calculated the PA/A ratio from thorax CT images.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PA/A ratio positively correlated with the number of hospitalizations for COPD exacerbations and the total number of exacerbations (hospitalized or not) in 1 year, and baseline PaCO2level during hospitalization (r = 0.376, P < 0.001, r = 0.230, P = 0.004, and r = 0.328, P < 0.001, respectively). There was no relationship between mortality and PA/A.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that PA/A was related with the number of hospitalizations and the total number of exacerbations due to COPD in 1 year. However, there was no relationship between PA/A and mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Koc University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sinem
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9035-7035
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iliaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tanriverdio
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Efsun Gonca Ugur
authors.initials: EGU
authors.lastname: Chousein
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sakine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical Faculty Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Raim
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iliaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdogan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cetinkaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Yedikule Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caglar
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001011:Aorta / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000401:mortality* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D066253:Vascular Remodeling / Q000502:physiology
keywords: COPD; exacerbation; mortality; pulmonary artery to aort ratio