ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the right heart dysfunction in SLE patients with/ without pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) using the parameters recommended by the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE),and to examine whether the right heart dysfunction is directly related to elevated pulmonary arterial systolic pressure(PASP) and pulmonary vascular resistance(PVR).Methods Study population composited of 43 patients with SLE.The patients were divided into two groups according to the PASP measured by echocardiography:Group A was 24 patients with PASP ≤35 mm Hg,Group B was 19patients with PASP＞35 mm Hg.Twenty-two healthy subjects with age and gender matched were set as control group.Routine transthoracic echocardiography study was performed on all patients and 26 parameters were measured in order to compare the differences of the parameters among the three groups.Results There were significant differences in 17 parameters among the three groups (P ＜0.05).Tricuspid annular plane systolic excurtion(TAPSE) and E/A ratio of tricuspid flow velocities in SLE patients without PAH significantly decreased compared to control group (P =0.04 and 0.03).There were significant differences in 11 parameters between SLE with and without PAH group (P ＜0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that after adjustment for age and gender,the patients with elevated PVR associated with a 6.18-fold increase in right ventricular dysfunction compared to the patients with normal PVR (P =0.02).Conclusions The impairment of right ventricular function in SLE patients was directly related to PVR and PASP.Elevation of PVR was an important predictor for right heart dysfunction.