Diagnostic Validity of Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing for Screening Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Purpose: To determine diagnostic validity of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) parameters for detecting pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to investigate association between CPX parameters and indices of PH.

Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 48 moderate to very severe COPD patients in whom PH was confirmed by echocardiography. Symptom-limited CPX was performed using an incremental exercise protocol.