Khush KK, Tasissa G, Butler J et al.; ESCAPE Investigators.
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Am Heart J 2009;157:1026–34.
Editor’s note: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is common in patients with chronic heart failure (HF), with a prevalence of 25–44% (
Ann Intern Med 1992;116:888–95,
J Heart Lung Transplant 2000;19:426–38). Furthermore, it has been reported that PH is a predictor of mortality and hospitalizations in this cohort (e.g.
Circulation 2002;105:1663–8,
Am J Cardiol 2005;96:199–203). However, these findings are confounded by the heterogeneity of the patient populations (in terms of etiology and disease severity) in many of the investigations. In addition, the definition of PH used in the studies varied. The aims of the present authors were to define the prevalence of mixed PH (MPH), identify predictors of MPH, and determine whether MPH predicts adverse outcomes in patients with severe HF.