scholarly journals Computed tomography lung parenchymal descriptions in routine radiological reporting have diagnostic and prognostic utility in patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and pulmonary hypertension associated with lung disease

2022 ◽  
pp. 00549-2021
Author(s):  
Krit Dwivedi ◽  
Robin Condliffe ◽  
Michael Sharkey ◽  
Robert Lewis ◽  
Samer Alabed ◽  
...  

BackgroundPatients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) and lung disease may pose a diagnostic dilemma between idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) and PH associated with lung disease (PH-CLD). The prognostic impact of common CT parenchymal features is unknown.Methods660 IPAH and PH-CLD patients assessed between 2001–19 were included. Reports for all CT scans one year prior to diagnosis were analysed for common lung parenchymal patterns. Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed.ResultsAt univariate analysis of the whole cohort, centrilobular ground glass (CGG) changes (Hazard Ratio, HR 0.29) and ground glass opacification (GGO, HR 0.53) predicted improved survival while honeycombing (HR 2.79), emphysema (HR 2.09) and fibrosis (HR 2.38) predicted worse survival (p all <0.001). Fibrosis was an independent predictor after adjusting for baseline demographics, PH severity and DLco (HR 1.37, p<0.05). Patients with a clinical diagnosis of IPAH who had an absence of reported parenchymal lung disease (IPAH-noLD) demonstrated superior survival to patients diagnosed with either IPAH who had coexistent CT lung disease or PH-CLD (2-year survival of 85%, 60% and 46% respectively, p<0.05). CGG changes were present in 23.3% of IPAH-noLD and 5.8% of PH-CLD patients. There was no significant difference in survival between IPAH-noLD patients with or without CGG changes. PH-CLD patients with fibrosis had worse survival than those with emphysema.InterpretationRoutine clinical reports of CT lung parenchymal disease identify groups of patients IPAH and CLD-PH with significantly different prognoses. Isolated CGG changes are not uncommon in IPAH but are not associated with worse survival.

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 204589402091485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Peacock ◽  
Yi Ling ◽  
Martin K. Johnson ◽  
David G. Kiely ◽  
Robin Condliffe ◽  
...  

Patients classified as idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (defined as Group 1 on European Respiratory Society (ERS)/European Cardiac Society (ESC) criteria) may have evidence of minor co-existing lung disease on thoracic computed tomography. We hypothesised that these idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patients ( IPAH lung disease) are a separate subgroup of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension with different phenotype and outcome compared with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patients without co-existing lung disease ( IPAH no lung disease). Patients with ‘ IPAH lung disease’ have been eligible for all clinical trials of Group 1 patients because they have normal clinical examination and normal spirometry but we wondered whether they responded to treatment and had similar survival to patients with ‘ IPAH no lung disease’. We described the outcome of the cohort of patients with ‘ IPAH no lung disease’ in a previous paper. Here, we have compared incident ‘ IPAH lung disease’ patients with ‘ IPAH no lung disease’ patients diagnosed concurrently in all eight Pulmonary Hypertension centres in the UK and Ireland between 2001–2009. Compared with ‘ IPAH no lung disease’ ( n = 355), ‘ IPAH lung disease’ patients ( n = 137) were older, less obese, predominantly male, more likely to be current/ex-smokers and had lower six-minute walk distance, lower % predicted diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide, lower mean pulmonary arterial pressure and lower pulmonary vascular resistance index. After three months of pulmonary hypertension-targeted treatment, six-minute walk distance improved equally in ‘ IPAH lung disease’ and ‘ IPAH no lung disease’. However, survival of ‘ IPAH lung disease’ was lower than ‘ IPAH no lung disease’ (one year survival: 72% compared with 93%). This survival was significantly worse in ‘ IPAH lung disease’ even after adjusting for age, gender, smoking history, comorbidities and haemodynamics. ‘ IPAH lung disease’ patients had similar short-term improvement in six-minute walk distance with anti-pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy but worse survival compared with ‘ IPAH no lung disease’ patients. This suggests that ‘ IPAH lung disease’ are a separate phenotype and should not be lumped with ‘ IPAH no lung disease’ in clinical trials of Group 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 240-243
Author(s):  
Adam Maxwell ◽  
◽  
Thomas Holman ◽  
Timea Novak ◽  
◽  
...  

A 31-year old woman presented to the acute medical unit 9 days post-partum with shortness of breath and peripheral oedema. Initially suspected to have either a pulmonary embolism or post-partum cardiomyopathy, she proceeded to have imaging including a CT Pulmonary angiogram and echocardiogram, which were suggestive of pulmonary hypertension and severe right heart failure. Her history and other investigations did not reveal any obvious cause for this. She was transferred to a specialist centre where she was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (IPAH), previously known as primary pulmonary hypertension. Shortness of breath during pregnancy and in the postpartum period is a relatively common acute medical presentation. Whilst IPAH is a rare diagnosis, it carries a high mortality rate, particularly in pregnancy, and requires prompt specialist investigation, diagnosis and management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 204589401985753
Author(s):  
Lina Caicedo ◽  
Rachel Hopper ◽  
Humberto Garcia Aguilar ◽  
Dunbar Ivy ◽  
Dora Haag ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to determine practice patterns and inter-institutional variability in how acute vasoreactivity testing (AVT) is performed and interpreted in pediatrics throughout the world. A survey was offered to physicians affiliated with the Pediatric & Congenital Heart Disease Taskforce of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute (PVRI), the Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension Network (PPHNET), or the Spanish Registry for Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension (REHIPED), from February to December 2016. The survey requested data about the site-specific protocol for AVT and subsequent management of pediatric patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) or heritable PAH (HPAH). Twenty-eight centers from 13 countries answered the survey. AVT is performed in most centers using inhaled nitric oxide (iNO). Sitbon criteria was used in 39% of the centers, Barst criteria in 43%, and other criteria in 18%. First-line therapy for positive AVT responders in functional class (FC) I/II was calcium channel blocker (CCB) in 89%, but only in 68% as monotherapy. Most centers (71%) re-evaluated AVT-positive patients hemodynamics after 6–12 months; 29% of centers re-evaluated based only on clinical criteria. Most centers (64%) considered a good response as remaining in FC I or II, with near normalization of pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance, but a stable FC I/II alone was sufficient criteria in 25% of sites. Protocols and diagnostic criteria for AVT, and therapeutic approaches during follow-up, were highly variable across the world. Reported clinical practice is not fully congruent with current guidelines, suggesting the need for additional studies that better define the prognostic value of AVT for pediatric IPAH patients.


2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (4) ◽  
pp. H1235-H1248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Revathi Rajkumar ◽  
Kazuhisa Konishi ◽  
Thomas J. Richards ◽  
David C. Ishizawar ◽  
Andrew C. Wiechert ◽  
...  

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a life-threatening condition characterized by pulmonary arteriolar remodeling. This investigation aimed to identify genes involved specifically in the pathogenesis of PAH and not other forms of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Using genomewide microarray analysis, we generated the largest data set to date of RNA expression profiles from lung tissue specimens from 1) 18 PAH subjects and 2) 8 subjects with PH secondary to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and 3) 13 normal subjects. A molecular signature of 4,734 genes discriminated among these three cohorts. We identified significant novel biological changes that were likely to contribute to the pathogenesis of PAH, including regulation of actin-based motility, protein ubiquitination, and cAMP, transforming growth factor-β, MAPK, estrogen receptor, nitric oxide, and PDGF signaling. Bone morphogenic protein receptor type II expression was downregulated, even in subjects without a mutation in this gene. Women with PAH had higher expression levels of estrogen receptor 1 than normal women. Real-time quantitative PCR confirmed differential expression of the following genes in PAH relative to both normal controls and PH secondary to IPF: a disintegrin-like and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif 9, cell adhesion molecule with homology to L1CAM, cytochrome b558and β-polypeptide, coagulation factor II receptor-like 3, A-myb myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog 1, nuclear receptor coactivator 2, purinergic receptor P2Y, platelet factor 4, phospholamban, and tropomodulin 3. This study shows that PAH and PH secondary to IPF are characterized by distinct gene expression signatures, implying distinct pathophysiological mechanisms.


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