Behavior of the pulmonary circulation at rest and during exercise in miliary tuberculosis

We studied the hemodynamic behavior of the pulmonary circulation at rest and during exercise in six patients with MTB. As a group, in contrast to advanced fibrocaseous tuberculosis, these patients exhibited normal pulmonary hemodynamics at rest and during exercise. Only minor abnormalities in pulmonary vascular resistance at exercise (increased PAd-PWP gradient) were noted in two of the patients. The increase in Rp during exercise does not appear to be related to acute hypoxic vasoconstruction but rather to functional changes (compliance or recruitment or both) of the pulmonary microvasculature. In the genesis of these functional changes, chronic alveolar hypoxia and the inflammatory-fibrotic process might be interacting.