Diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension associated whith systemic sclerosis

Abstract

Systemic sclerosis is the most common autoimmune disease associated with pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension is a potential predictor of early death, and therefore, recently, interest in a comprehensive study of the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis has been increasing among researchers. Aim. Consideration of current diagnostic issues, as well as the principles of using diagnostic algorithms to verify pulmonary hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis, applied in daily clinical practice. Material and methods. In order to study the literature data, a search was carried out for information on this problem up to 10 years in depth in the Web of Science, PubMed/MEDLINE. During the search, the following terms were used individually and in combination: "systemic sclerosis", "pulmonary hypertension", "DETECT algorithm", "catheterization of the right heart chambers". The main search criteria were studies based on the study of patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis: meta-analyzes, original studies, retrospective and cohort studies. Results and discussion. The clinical symptoms of pulmonary hypertension can be nonspecific, which greatly complicates the diagnosis of the disease in the early stages. The absence of a specific clinical picture before the development of an advanced stage of pulmonary hypertension leads to late verification of the diagnosis. Key algorithms used in the daily practice of a doctor make it possible to minimize the number of undiagnosed cases of pulmonary hypertension. Conclusions. Diagnosis of PH associated with systemic sclerosis is often challenging for clinicians to practice. Early diagnosis and therefore treatment of PH are of paramount importance as they improve survival rates in patients with systemic sclerosis. Keywords: systemic sclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, screening, DETECT algorithm, right heart catheterization.