Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Sensitivity and Specificity

Introduction: Pulmonary hypertension that is a primary problem of the pulmonary arteries, also known as primary or idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. It is defined as:

(Often instead of mPAP, RVSP is used with a cutoff of 40mmHg being suggestive but not diagnostic of PAH.)

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The sensitivity and specificity of findings for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension are listed below. See the left navigation bar to change the display.

Specific Findings

Finding	Sensitivity	Specificity	Comments, Study
Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure	64%	91%	PCWP <= 15 mmHg (which is in the definition), compared to LVEDP <= 15 mmHg as a 'gold standard' measurement of left-sided filling pressures. Another way of looking at this: in patients with PAH defined by PCWP<=15, 53% of them had an LVEDP > 15 mmHg. Study: Chest. 2009 Jul;136(1):37-43. PMID 19255293