Evolution and prognosis of pulmonary hypertension in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

The prognostic value of the presence and degree of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) has been well established by recent studies including the European WHO multicentric study where 591 COPD patients have been included. The level of pulmonary artery mean pressure (PAP) is one of the best predictors of mortality in these patients along with FEV1 and arterial blood gases. The natural history of the course of PAP in COPD was relatively obscure until recent years.

[Hemodynamic and gasometric stability during right heart catheterization in chronic bronchopneumopathies].

In order to determine if blood gases and haemodynamic variables were steady after right heart catheterization, measurements were performed as soon as the catheter was placed, and after an interval ranging between 15 and 25 min in 22 patients with chronic lung disease. This study shows that there was no significant difference in blood gases, systemic and pulmonary vascular pressures, or cardiac output, except for pulmonary wedge pressure which decreased by 1.1 mmHg on average, and PaO2 which increased by 2.

Long-term oxygen therapy can reverse the progression of pulmonary hypertension in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Sixteen patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (average values at the onset of O2 therapy: FEV1, 891 +/- 284 ml; PaO2, 50.2 +/- 6.6 mmHg; PaCO2, 51.