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Introduction: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a destructive disease that is characterized by vasoconstriction, alterations and abnormal angiogenesis in pulmonary vessels, and right ventricular dysfunction. There is no certain treatment known for this condition. Patients with PAH have a lower level of apelin in their blood and less apelin is secreted in their endothelial cells, but this condition is not investigated in hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to compare apelin level in hemodialysis patients with and without PAH., Materials and Methods: Forty hemodialysis patients with PAH were compared with 40 patients without the condition. Apelin serum level was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Dialysis adequacy was measured and its relationship with apelin level and the pulmonary arterial pressure was investigated., Results: The mean level of apelin in the group suffering from PAH was 54.87 ± 23.50 ng/L, while it was 76.85 ± 34.66 ng/L in those without PAH (P = .001). It was also found that hemodialysis adequacy had no effect on apelin level or pulmonary arterial pressure., Conclusion: The findings of our study suggest that in hemodialysis patients with PAH, apelin peptide serum levels are significantly lower than patients with normal arterial pressure and this condition is not affected by hemodialysis.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the most common complications of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), but its severe form is uncommon. Various factors play an important role in the occurrence and severity of pulmonary hypertension in patients., Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on patients with COPD referred to an emergency department over a one-year period. The tests-including complete blood count (CBC) and arterial blood gas (ABG), pulmonary functional test (PFT) and echocardiography-were performed for all patients to measure mPAP (mean pulmonary artery pressure), ejection fraction (EF) and body mass index (BMI). The prevalence of severe pulmonary hypertension and its associated factors were investigated in these patients., Results: A total of 1078 patients was included in the study, of whom 628 (58.3%) were male and 450 (41.7%) were female. The mean age of the patients undergoing the study was 70.1±12.2. A total of 136 (13.7%) of them had mPAP (mm Hg)≥40mm Hg as severe pulmonary hypertension. Following multivariable analysis by using the backward conditional method, it was shown that seven variables had a significant correlation with severe PH., Conclusions: The results showed that there is an independent correlation between hypoxia, hypopnea and compensatory metabolic alkalosis, polycythemia, left ventricular dysfunction, emaciation, and cachectic with severe pulmonary hypertension. The prevalence of severe PH in these patients was 13.7%., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.)