Prevalence of elevated pulmonary arterial pressures measured by echocardiography in a multicenter study of patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of elevated pulmonary arterial pressures (PAP) as a correlate for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) in rheumatology centers in Canada.

Methods: During the one-year study period (June 2002-May 2003), charts of patients with SSc were reviewed to determine demographics, SSc characteristics, percentage of patients with a PAH diagnosis, and the site criteria for such diagnosis. Subjects with no PAH that had symptoms of dyspnea and/or fatigue were invited to undergo Doppler echocardiography to estimate their systolic PAP (sPAP).