Composite score from the pulmonary hypertension-interstitial lung disease detection tool correlates with invasive right heart catheterization hemodynamics

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary hypertension in interstitial lung disease carries a poor prognosis with increased morbidity and mortality. Early recognition of PH in this population is essential for planning diagnostic testing, initiating therapy, and evaluating for lung transplantation; early screening has been made possible by the recently developed PH-ILD Detection tool.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to further assess the composite score of the PH-ILD Detection tool and determine whether it correlated with invasive hemodynamic measurements obtained during right heart catheterization.

Design: We conducted a retrospective review of prospectively collected data from the validation cohort of the PH-ILD Detection tool.

Methods: There were 41 patients with confirmed PH-ILD identified; 12 patients (29.3 %) were stratified as intermediate-risk and 29 patients (70.7 %) were stratified as high-risk by the PH-ILD Detection tool.

Results: The mean composite score obtained from the tool for the 41 patients was 7.2. Statistical analysis showed that a higher score on the PH-ILD Detection tool correlated with a higher mean pulmonary artery pressure, higher pulmonary vascular resistance, and a lower Fick-derived cardiac index.

Conclusion: The PH-ILD Detection tool not only can increase suspicion for concomitant PH and provide an algorithm for further testing, but the findings in this study also suggest an additional prognostic hemodynamic role as well.

Keywords: Interstitial lung disease; Pulmonary hypertension.