Abstract 13487: Impact of the New Definition of Pulmonary Hypertension in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

Abstract

Introduction: The proposed revision of hemodynamic definition of pulmonary hypertension (PH) adopts a lower threshold of mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) > 20 mmHg. In addition, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) ≥ 3 Wood units (WU) is included as the definition of pre-capillary component of PH. Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) can develop pre-capillary PH as well as post-capillary PH. We aimed to investigate the impact of the proposed definition of PH on clinical diagnosis of PH associated with HFpEF. Methods: From the PURSUIT-HFpEF (Prospective Multicenter Observational Study of Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction) registry, 225 patients who were hospitalized with HF and underwent right heart catheterization were categorized according to the current guidelines and the proposed definition of PH: non-PH, isolated post-capillary PH (Ipc-PH), pre-capillary PH, and combined pre- and post-capillary PH (Cpc-PH). In the proposed definition, patients with mPAP > 20 mmHg, PVR < 3 WU, and pulmonary artery wedge pressure ≤ 15 mmHg do not meet criteria for any of the above categories and are categorized as “unclassified PH”. Results: Prevalence of PH was significantly increased in the proposed definition compared to that in the current definition (51% vs 29%, p<0.0001), with a doubled frequency of pre-capillary PH (Fig A). Furthermore, 24 patients (11%) were diagnosed as unclassified PH and accounted for 22% of those with PH by the proposed definition. Among the PH categories in the proposed definition, Cpc-PH category was significantly relevant for worse prognosis at 1 year after discharge in patients with HFpEF (p=0.03 vs non-PH by log-rank test with Bonferroni's correction) (Fig 2). Conclusions: The new definition of PH resulted in a remarkable increase of prevalence of PH in HFpEF with a quite a few patients with unclassified PH and doubled frequency of pre-capillary PH.