• Chang-Ying Chen, Cheng-Chung Hung, Cheng-Hung Chiang, Yi-Ching Tsa, Yun-Ju Fu, Chia-Lin Wang, Fu-Ting Tsai, Hsiao-Yun Tai, Kun-Chang Lin, Wan-Ting Hung, Shu-Hung Kuo, and Wei-Chun Huang.
• Department of critical care medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC.
• J Chin Med Assoc. 2022 Jan 1; 85 (1): 182318-23.

AbstractPulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was a disease predominantly affecting young females about 40 years ago; however, it has been increasingly diagnosed in elderly individuals. Few studies have investigated the features of elderly patients with PAH. This review provides an overview of the characteristics of elderly patients with PAH compared to young patients. The examination of the changing demographics of the population with PAH revealed that the mean age has increased over the years. In addition, the investigation into the diagnostic challenges in elderly patients with PAH revealed the difficulty in differentiating PAH from pulmonary hypertension secondary to diastolic heart failure. Moreover, it was noted that elderly patients underwent combination drug regimens less frequently and exhibited poorer treatment responses than young patients. Finally, it was found that elderly PAH patients experienced poorer survival than young patients. The differences among five survival prediction models and their applicability in predicting the prognosis of PAH patients are discussed.Copyright © 2021, the Chinese Medical Association.

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