Comorbid patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and coronary heart disease: opportunities for early diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension in outpatient settings

Introduction . A comorbid patient with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in combination with cardiovascular diseases (CHD) has a poor prognosis due to the early progression of the pulmonary hypertension (PH). The study surveyed an opportunity of the PH detection using an active PH verification strategy in outpatients with COPD and stable angina pectoris. Goal . To evaluate the frequency of РH in patients with mild and moderate COPD in combination with CHD and the possibility of using the echocardiographic criterion «right atrial area» to prove РH. Materials and methods . The study included 52 outpatient patients with an average age of 62.8 ± 8.14 years. A comprehensive assessment of the Borg dyspnea scale, echocardiography, pulse oximetry at rest and after the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) were carried out. Two groups of patients were compared depending on the development of РH after T6MX. Results and discussion . It was shown that in patients with COPD (GOLD I-II) and angina pectoris, PH was initially detected in 3.3% of cases, and after the 6MWT in 63.3% of patients. In this group, after T6MX, an increase in pulmonary artery pressure was determined from 18.5 ± 10.6 mmHg to 41.2 ± 12.5 mmHg (p < 0.05). After physical activity with increased pressure in the pulmonary artery, there was a significant increase in the area of the right atrium. Only 1/3 of patients with PH had hypoxemia after the 6MWT. Conclusions . The T6M test makes it possible to detect РH in more than half of patients with COPD (GOLD I-II) and CHD in an outpatient setting. An enlargement in the area of the right atrium according to echocardiography, along with the other indicators of morphological and functional changes in the right heart, can be an additional diagnostic criterion for PH in comorbid patients with COPD and cardiovascular diseases.