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Background and Aims To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) - a potential phenotypical risk for pulmonary hypertension (PH) - in patients with PH and by PH diagnostic group including group 1 pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); group 1.1 idiopathic PAH, groups 1.2 heritable PAH, 1.3 drug and toxin induced, 1.4 associated PAH, group 2 PH with left heart disease, group 3 PH associated with lung disease and/or hypoxemia, group 4 PH owing to chronic thrombotic and/or embolic disease, and group 5 PH from multifactorial mechanisms. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients referred to Mayo Clinic in Florida from January 1990 to October 2013 ( N = 1287). Only patients whom PH was confirmed by right heart catheterization were included ( N = 640). MetS was defined with at least three of the following: systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and body mass index > 30. Results MetS was prevalent in 247 of 640 (39%) with PH: 13% in group 1.1 PAH, 12% in groups 1.2-1.4 PAH, 54% in group 2, 55% in group 3, 23% in group 4 and 24% in group 5. After adjusting for age, sex and race, diagnostic subgroup analysis revealed a higher prevalence of MetS in WHO Group 2 PH patients [adjusted odd ratios (OR): 2.58, P < 0.0001] and WHO group 3 PH (adjusted OR: 2.77, P < 0.0001) when compared to group 1 PH. Conclusion The prevalence of MetS was observed in 39% of patients with PH; however, among PH patients, the prevalence was higher in group 2 and 3 PH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a retrospective study on the association between pulmonary hypertension (PH) and thyroid dysfunction in Jacksonville Pulmonary Hypertension Center in Jacksonville, Florida from 1992 to 2006. It has found out that out of the 356 patients, 250 were female and median age was 65 years and most of them have suffered from severe pulmonary artery systolic pressure. It has determined that a significant percentage of PH patients have coexisting thyroid dysfunction.

The article presents a study on the prevalence of acute vasoresponsiveness on pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients. The study used vasodilator testing on PH patients with epoprostenol or nitric oxide to explore vasoresponsiveness in the patients. Results reveal that 26% have responded to the acute vasodilator therapy. The study concludes that significant number of PH patients are acutely vasoresponsive to vasodilator therapy and that PH patients may benefit from calcium channel blockers.