Incidence of pulmonary hypertension in patients with Takayasu's arteritis: A transthoracic echocardiographic evaluation.

AIM: In this study, we aim to evaluate the incidence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in Takayasu arteritis (TA) patients.

METHODS

Thirty-four outpatient Takayasu arteritis patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) following the ESC-ERS guidelines. A tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRV) greater than 3.4m/s indicated a high probability of pulmonary hypertension (PH). The patients were categorized based on their New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class (FC) and symptomatic status. All patients underwent a six-minute walk test (6MWT) and pulmonary function tests (PFT).

RESULTS

A total of 30 patients with a mean age of 40±9.3 years were enrolled in the study. Among these patients, four (13.3%) were met the criteria for high probability of PH (TRV: 4±0.92), with a mean systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP) of 76.7±37. There were no significant differences in terms of age, disease duration, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) between the PH and non-PH groups. However, there was a significant difference in tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion TAPSE/SPAP ratio between NYHA functional class (FC) Group 1 and Group 2 (1.2±0.16 vs 0.83±0.24, p=0.018). Additionally, TAPSE showed a correlation with forced expiratory volume in the first second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) (r=0.446, p=0.043).

CONCLUSIONS

Pulmonary hypertension is a not uncommon complication in Takayasu arteritis (13.3% vs 11.3% in the literature). Considering the symptoms and functional capacity, lowering the threshold for initiating transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) evaluation may be beneficial for early risk stratification of pulmonary hypertension in patients with Takayasu arteritis.