The research results on Takayasu arteritis-associated pulmonary hypertension (TA-PH) by the team of Professor Jing Zhicheng from the Department of Cardiology at PUMCH were published in the “European Heart Journal” (IF 29.983). This study is a national multi-center registration cohort study. It reveals the clinical characteristics, prognosis and related risk factors of TA-PH, which is of great significance for improving the diagnosis of the disease and guiding the exploration of treatment strategies.

140 patients with TA-PH diagnosed by imaging and right heart catheterization from more than ten provinces in China were enrolled. The data was extracted from the National Rare Diseases Registry System of China, which was established under the leadership of PUMCH.

The researchers established a large-sample clinical cohort with definite diagnosis and clear phenotype of TA-PH; they identified important clinical characteristics of the disease, which include frequent occurrence in young and middle-aged women, a common history of hemoptysis and previous tuberculosis infection, elevated inflammatory biomarkers, and relatively mild or moderate clinical presentation. They also found that history of syncope, increased NT-proBNP and elevated right atrial pressure were independent risk factors for poor prognosis. This study found that the 5-year survival rate of patients was only 77.2%, thus it is urgent to further investigate effective treatment strategies to improve the long-term prognosis of patients.

Research design of Takayasu arteritis-associated pulmonary hypertension (TA-PH)

Reporter: Chen Xiao

Translator: Liu Haiyan

Editor: Wu Wei and Wang Yao