An Abbreviated Assessment Tool for Detection of Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients With Interstitial Lung Disease.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a major complication of interstitial lung disease (ILD) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Early recognition of PH in ILD is crucial for guiding diagnostic evaluation, initiating treatment, and considering lung transplantation. The previously developed PH-ILD Detection Tool by Parikh et al. incorporated eight variables to stratify patients into low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups, and was subsequently validated in an independent cohort. While effective, the multi-component score may be difficult to implement in routine practice. The aim of this study was to develop a simplified assessment tool for PH in ILD that relies on easily obtainable clinical data. We retrospectively evaluated 154 ILD patients who underwent right heart catheterization. The abbreviated PH-ILD score assigned one point each for: (1) physical examination findings suggestive of PH, (2) diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide < 40% predicted, and (3) supplemental oxygen use (range 0-3). Diagnostic performance was assessed using sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and an ROC curve. The mean age was 70.0 ± 12.1 years, and the overall prevalence of PH was 48.1%. PH prevalence increased with higher scores: 14.3% (score 0), 58.1% (score 1), 79.0% (score 2), and 87.2% (score 3). The abbreviated tool demonstrated good discriminatory ability (AUC 0.74; 95% CI 0.65-0.82;