Purpose

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) leads to right ventricular (RV) remodeling and dysfunction. Regardless of etiology, clinical deterioration and mortality are strongly associated with RV dysfunction in PH patients. Assessment of RV function with echocardiography has become more of an important issue in predicting outcome and treatment decisions of PH patients.

Ghrelin is a peptide mostly secreted from gaster, which has various effects in cardiovascular system. Even though it is known that idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients have increased ghrelin levels in plasma, effect of ghrelin is not elited in other forms of PH. Ghrelin would play a role in PH pathogenesis, and there is no data showing relationship between echocardiographic assessment of right heart and the serum levels of ghrelin in PH patients.

Methods

20 PAH patients (40±17 yo,18 female) with different etiologies (3 systemic, 2 idiopathic, 12 congenital, 3 chronic thromboembolic PH) and a matched control group with 20 normal people were included. Serum ghrelin levels were studied. RV fractional area change (FAC), segmental (LS) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) as well as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and GLS were measured. To examine the association between ghrelin levels and RV assessment parameters, correlation coefficient was used.

Methods

20 PAH patients (40±17 yo,18 female) with different etiologies (3 systemic, 2 idiopathic, 12 congenital, 3 chronic thromboembolic PH) and a matched control group with 20 normal people were included. Serum ghrelin levels were studied. RV fractional area change (FAC), segmental (LS) and global longitudinal strain (GLS) as well as left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and GLS were measured. To examine the association between ghrelin levels and RV assessment parameters, correlation coefficient was used.