Evaluation of pulmonary artery stiffness in newly diagnosed adult patients with asthma.

Abstract

There are limited studies on the effects of asthma on cardiac function. Right ventricular dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension are cardiovascular complications that may be seen in advanced stages of the disease. Pulmonary artery stiffness (PAS), is a promising, relatively new echocardiographic index that has been reported to increase in right ventricular failure, providing information about pulmonary vascular bed. In this study, we aimed to evaluate PAS, a marker of pulmonary artery elasticity, in adult-onset asthma. Ninety-nine nonsmokers who had a new asthma diagnosis between the ages of 18 and 65years and 97 healthy controls with similar age and sex distribution were included in the study. PAS was calculated by dividing the maximal frequency shift of pulmonary flow (MFS) in pulmonary acceleration time (PAT). Clinical and demographic characteristics of both groups were similar (P˃0.05). PAS values were higher in the asthma group than in the control group (25.2±4.5 vs 22.4±4.1, P ˂0.001). TAPSE was lower in the case group (24.9±2.0 vs 25.5±2.1, P=0.043), while RV MPI was higher (0.36±0.07 vs 0.32±0.06, P ˂0.001). In the multivariate linear regression analysis, RV MPI, RV Em, and TAPSE variables were independent predictors of PAS. In our study, PAS values were higher in patients with newly diagnosed adult asthma and we found a significant weak correlation between PAS values and subclinical right ventricular dysfunction.