• Carmine D Vizza, Rogier Klok, Mark Small, Giorgio Castellano, Julia Harley, and Dominik Lautsch.
• Pulmonary Hypertension Unit, Department of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Disease, La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
• Curr Med Res Opin. 2024 Oct 1; 40 (10): 166716721667-1672.

ObjectiveThis study involved an analysis of a real world, international survey where physicians provided cross-sectional, retrospective data for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to determine predictive factors of right heart catheterization (RHC) to confirm their PAH diagnosis.MethodsData were sourced from the Adelphi PAH Disease Specific Programme (DSP) in the United States (US), France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and Japan, between March and August 2022.ResultsOverall, 75% (n = 395) of patients with PAH (n = 529) underwent RHC at diagnosis; this varied by country, ranging from 64% in the US to 92% in France. RHC was more likely to be performed in patients with a higher New York Heart Association Functional Class, with key PAH symptoms (dyspnea, palpitations, and cyanosis), and diagnosed at PH specialist centers.ConclusionBy understanding the factors associated with RHC utilization at PAH diagnosis, more targeted approaches for improving the diagnosis for patients with suspected PAH may be pursued.

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