Stress Echocardiographic Prediction of Emerging Pulmonary Vascular Disease in Systemic Sclerosis

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Systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients experience disproportionate morbidity and mortality from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction.1 Two-dimensional (2D) speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) can be used for noninvasive assessment of impaired RV contractile reserve in SSc patients at risk for PAH.2,3 However, there are no established statistical models that are predictive of emerging pulmonary vascular disease (PVD) in SSc. In the present study, we first sought to establish whether abnormal RV contractile reserve is associated with future elevation in pulmonary arterial pressures (PAPs).