Evaluation of pulmonary artery stiffness in patients with systemic sclerosis

Objective: The study aims to investigate the use of pulmonary artery stiffness (PAS) parameter in early diagnosis of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and pulmonary hypertension in SSc patients. Patients and Methods: The study involved 102 SSc patients and 45 control group patients, who underwent transthoracic echocardiographic evaluations. Results: Pulmonary artery stiffness was measured as 25.7±7.6 (Hz/msn) in the SSc cases and 13.7 ±1.6 (Hz/msn) in the healthy subjects (P< 0.001). TAPSE/sPAP ratio, which we used as an indicator of RV-PA coupling, was calculated as 0.65+0.28 in SSc cases and 1.12+0.33 in the control group (P