Abstract :
I read the article entitled “Echocardiographic evolution of
pulmonary hypertension in female patients with hyperthyroidism” with great interest (1). The authors have demonstrated that
pulmonary hypertension (PH), with various severities, was present in 73 of the total 142 female patients with hyperthyroidism. To
detect PH in the study population, estimated systolic pulmonary
arterial pressure (sPAP) was measured by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Moreover, patients who had an estimated
sPAP ≥35 mm Hg at rest were considered to have PH. I commend
the authors for their complementary contribution to the area of
PH in patients with hyperthyroidism.
PH is defined as an increase in mean PAP ≥25 mm Hg at rest,
as assessed by right heart catheterization (RHC) (2). Thus, RHC
is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of PH. However, TTE is recommended for screening for the presence of PH
(2). Therefore, TTE is frequently used to estimate sPAP, to screen
for PH, and to monitor progression over time because it is noninvasive, widely available, and relatively inexpensive.
