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Review
. 2022 Jan 1;85(1):18-23.
doi: 10.1097/JCMA.0000000000000658.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension in the elderly population

Chang-Ying Chen  1 , Cheng-Chung Hung  1 , Cheng-Hung Chiang  1   2   3 , Yi-Ching Tsa  2   4 , Yun-Ju Fu  2   4 , Chia-Lin Wang  2   4 , Fu-Ting Tsai  2   4 , Hsiao-Yun Tai  2   4 , Kun-Chang Lin  1 , Wan-Ting Hung  1 , Shu-Hung Kuo  1 , Wei-Chun Huang  1   2   3   5
Affiliations
Review

Pulmonary arterial hypertension in the elderly population

Chang-Ying Chen et al. J Chin Med Assoc. .

Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was a disease predominantly affecting young females about 40 years ago; however, it has been increasingly diagnosed in elderly individuals. Few studies have investigated the features of elderly patients with PAH. This review provides an overview of the characteristics of elderly patients with PAH compared to young patients. The examination of the changing demographics of the population with PAH revealed that the mean age has increased over the years. In addition, the investigation into the diagnostic challenges in elderly patients with PAH revealed the difficulty in differentiating PAH from pulmonary hypertension secondary to diastolic heart failure. Moreover, it was noted that elderly patients underwent combination drug regimens less frequently and exhibited poorer treatment responses than young patients. Finally, it was found that elderly PAH patients experienced poorer survival than young patients. The differences among five survival prediction models and their applicability in predicting the prognosis of PAH patients are discussed.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the subject matter or materials discussed in this article.

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