ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship between serum uric acid and pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods The echocardiography, electrocardiogram, nailfold videocapillaroscopy and laboratory parameters of 62 patients with SSc were retrospectively analyzed . Patients were divided into two groups according to presence of PH . Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 17 software . Results Compared to patients without PH , patients with PH had significantly higher serum uric acid levels ( P < 0 . 01 ) , systolic pulmonary arterial pressure ( P < 0 . 01 ) , abnormality of electrocardiogram (P < 0.01), abnormality of nailfold video capillaroscopy and lower serum albunin levels (P < 0.01). Systolic pulmonary arterial pressure had correlation with Serum UA ( r = 0 . 26 , P < 0 . 01 ) as well as serum ablumin (r = -0.28, P < 0.03). Moreover, the mean value of serum UA was significantly different in two ECG groups (P < 0.01) and two nailfold videocapillaroscopy groups (P < 0.01). At the cutoff level of 374 μmol/L, serum uric acid had reasonable accuracy for predicting the presence of PH in SSc patients ( sensitivity 66 . 7% and specificity 84 . 0%) . Conclusion The serum uric acid may be useful as a practicable marker for predict PH in patients with SSc .