TOPLINE:
Pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) increases during late life and predicts the development of dyspnea, highlighting the importance of risk factor assessment and control over the life course, researchers say.
METHODOLOGY:
Investigators quantified longitudinal changes in PASP over the 6 years between ages 75.5 and 81.5 years in 1420 adults (68% women, 24% Black) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.
PASP was estimated by Doppler echo from the systolic right ventricular to right atrial pressure gradient using the modified Bernoulli equation. Right atrial pressure was assumed to be 5 mmHg and then added to the calculated gradient to yield PASP.
Multivariable regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which cardiac and pulmonary dysfunction associate with change in PASP and to define the relationships of changes in PASP with dyspnea.
TAKEAWAY:
Over the 6 years, PASP increased by 5 ± 8 mmHg — from 28 ± 5 mmHg at age 75.5 years to 33 ± 8 mmHg at age 81.5 years, with greater increases observed in older adults. The prevalence of pulmonary hypertension increased from 3% to 25%.
Increases in pulmonary pressure correlated with onset of dyspnea in late life. Each 5-mmHg increase in PASP was associated with 16% higher odds of developing dyspnea.
