[Course study of pulmonary artery pressure in patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis]

In 73 patients with chronic obstructive bronchitis we measured the pulmonary artery pressure for a mean period of 3,6 years (max. 7,7 years). Out of 37 patients with primary normal pressure 11 men (29,7%) developed a latent or manifest pulmonary hypertension. At the first examination 28 men had a manifest hypertension, 16 of them (57,1%) stayed constantly, but 7 (25%) showed a further deterioration. Only 5 patients (17,9%) have improved, 3 of them were normalized. Five of eight patients with latent hypertension deteriorated to manifest hypertension. An annual FEV1 decline greater than 60 ml we found in 60,9% of all patients with increasing pulmonary artery pressure. The unsatisfactory specificity of this sign (52%) improved by consideration of arterial oxygen tension and the diameter of the right descending branch (RDB) of pulmonary artery. We stated an increasing pressure in 64,7% of cases developing arterial hypoxemia and in 68,8% of patients with dilatation of RDB (Sensitivity of these signs 47,8%, specificity 88 respectively 90%).