Incidence of pulmonary hypertension in patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To assess the incidence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with chronic myeloproliferative disorders (CMPD).

METHOD

Twenty-seven patients with a diagnosis of CMPD were included in the study. Patients were excluded if they had a secondary cause of PH. Diagnosis of PH was established if right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was >35 mmHg.

RESULTS

Diagnosis of PH was established in 14 out of 27 patients. Two patients were excluded from analysis because of poor ejection fraction on TTE, resulting in a final diagnosis of PH in 12 of 25 (48%) patients. Of these 25 patients, seven of nine with essential thrombocytosis (ET), five of 14 with polycythemia vera (PV), and 0 out of two with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) had PH. All patients were asymptomatic at the time of their most recent visit. There was no relationship between PH and age at diagnosis, duration of disease, platelet count and hematocrit at diagnosis or during follow-up, both for the entire cohort or for specific diagnosis of ET or PV.

CONCLUSION

Pulmonary hypertension appears to be common in patients with CMPD. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of treatment on PH and long-term survival in these patients.