The Prevalence and Risk Factors for Pulmonary Hypertension Diagnosed by Echocardiography in Old and Very Old Hospitalized Patients

Abstract

Background: So far, the prevalence and risk factors for pulmonary hypertension (PH) diagnosed by echocardiography in old and very old Chinese patients have not been reported. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and potential risk factors for PH diagnosed by echocardiography in old and very old hospitalized patients. Methods: One thousand and ninety-three hospitalized patients (80.76 ± 9.77 years) were examined by Doppler echocardiography for evaluating PH. PH was defined by pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) ≥40 mmHg. Results: One hundred and fifteen patients (10.5%) of the old and very old patients were diagnosed with PH. The prevalence of PH in patients who were 85 years old or older was 16.4%, which was higher than other age groups. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis (forward stepwise procedure), age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.087, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.053–1.122, p < 0.001], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (OR = 1.704, 95% CI: 1.104–2.629, p = 0.016), left ventricular systolic dysfunction (OR = 3.879, 95% CI: 1.726–8.719, p = 0.001), and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (OR = 5.357, 95% CI: 3.002–9.560, p < 0.001) were statistically significant risk factors for PH (Table 2). Conclusion: We concluded that the prevalence of PH in old and very old patients was high, especially in patients with advanced age, COPD, and left ventricular dysfunction.

Keywords

• echocardiography
• old and very old patients
• pulmonary hypertension
• risk factors