A study on the correlation between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease severity and pulmonary hypertension

Background: Most of the increased mortality associated with COPD is due to cardiac involvement. RV dysfunction is common in patients with COPD secondary to the development of PH, which leads to corpulmonale. In India the burden and mortality due to COPD is increasing day by day., early recognition of RV dysfunction and PH may help in the treatment and the survival of the patients. Evaluate the clinical profile of COPD patients and study the PH in COPD patients by non-invasive methods. Methods: Sample size 200. Sampling method: simple random sampling, Study Design: cross-sectional study, Patients who presented with complaints of breathlessness, cough, sputum >3months duration clinically diagnosed as by spirometry i.e. FEV1/FVC<0.7 And FEV1 divided into 3 groups of mild, moderate & severe/very severe COPD based On GOLD guideline. Using non-invasive methods like ECG, chest X-Ray,2-D Echo, PH was evaluated in diagnosed COPD patients. Result: Among 200 patients,142 males& 58 females the most common abnormality observed in ECG was P-Pulmonale (69%), the prevalence of PH found 63.9 ± 12.9%, The mean value of PH increased 4.1% with mild to moderate COPD and 5.8% increased from moderate to severe/very severe COPD category and The mean value of Ejection Fraction also decreased 7.3% in moderate COPD as compare mild COPD and 5.6% decreased in severe/very severe COPD as compared to moderate COPD. Conclusions: PH was significantly increased with the severity of COPD categories.