Combination of echocardiography and pulmonary function tests could predict no complication of pulmonary hypertension during 5 years in patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether complications of pulmonary hypertension (PH) can be predicted by noninvasive screening tests in systemic sclerosis (SSc).

METHODS

Forty-seven of 113 SSc patients underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) during 2011-2014. Clinical data, hemodynamic features, echocardiography, and pulmonary function tests had been followed up from the first RHC until 5 years later.

RESULTS

At the first RHC, out of 44 patients, 8 were diagnosed with pre-capillary PH (mean pulmonary arterial pressure [mPAP] > 20 mm Hg), and 36 patients were defined as no-PH (mPAP ≤ 20 mm Hg). Three patients with >15 mm Hg of pulmonary artery wedge pressure were excluded. Receiver operating characteristic analyses for pre-capillary PH using estimated systolic PAP (esPAP) revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.736, with a sensitivity and specificity of 62.5% and 86.1%, respectively, at a cutoff level of 35.0 mm Hg. The predicted percentage diffusing lung capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO%) revealed an AUC of 0.840, with a sensitivity and specificity of 85.7% and 80.0%, respectively, at a cutoff level of 70.0%. Six pre-capillary PH patients, including one who died from PH 14 months after the first RHC, indicated exacerbations of mPAP or esPAP within 5 years. When esPAP < 35.0 mm Hg and DLCO% > 70% were met as the cutoff, none had been newly diagnosed with PH over 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS

The conventional screening tests may be useful for detecting pre-capillary PH with SSc, and both esPAP < 35.0 mm Hg and DLCO% > 70% indicated a lower risk of developing PH for at least 5 years.