[Pulmonary hypertension spectrum: 16 years of experience from a single center]

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is multidisciplinary disorder that should be diagnosed and treated by specialized centers. Progress in the field of PH diagnosis has led to new classifications of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the etiological properties of PH diagnosed at one center.

A retrospective search of the database of the right heart catheterization laboratory was conducted. All of the patients who underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) and were diagnosed with PH were included in the study and grouped according to etiology.

A total of 379 patients with PH (23 female; 53.2±14.7 years) were included in the current research. There were 82 patients classified as having pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The leading cause among the PAH subgroups was congenital heart disease, and valve disease were found to be most the common reason for postcapillary PH. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean and systolic pulmonary artery pressure and left ventricular ejection fraction between the PH groups (p<0.001, p=0.003, p<0.001, respectively).

The results of this study indicated that the leading causes of PAH and postcapillary PH were congenital heart disease and valve disease, respectively. Additional research of the etiological properties of PH should be performed by specialized centers in Turkey.