[Radiologic indices and measurements in the evaluation of pulmonary artery hypertension in chronic obstructive lung disease].

Radiologic indexes proposed as useful in the non-invasive evaluation of pulmonary arterial hypertension (HAP) were analyzed in a group of 35 patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (NOC) and secondary HAP (mean pulmonary artery pressure = 29 +/- 2 mmHg). Indices included the PL/T (L = point of union of the external border of the upper lobe artery with the pars interlobaris; PL = the sum of horizontal distances of the right and left L's to the midline: T = transverse diameter of the thorax), the width of the right pulmonary artery at the pars interlobaris (R) and the relation between R and the transverse diameter of the hemithorax (R/H). Our results were as follows: R index was abnormal (greater than 17 mm) in 25 out of 35 patients (71%). PL/T was found abnormal (greater than 38%) in 16 of the patients (45.7%). R/H was abnormal in 10 of the patients (28%). There was no correlation between any of the indexes, and the levels of HAP or pulmonary arteriolar vascular resistance nor the magnitude of lung over inflation or bronchial obstruction. We conclude that the proposed indexes are also of value in NOC with HAP. The width of the right pulmonary artery (R) will be abnormal in two-thirds of the cases with HAP and NOC.