Prognostication in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Use of Current Risk Prediction Models

Richa Agarwal, MD Allegheny General Hospital Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Section of Advanced Heart Failure, Transplantation, Mechanical Circulatory Support, and Pulmonary Hypertension Pittsburgh, PA Significant therapeutic advances in the field of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), increased awareness and diagnosis, and changing patient demographics in the contemporary era have facilitated the development of better prognostic tools for predicting survival. However, overall patient outcomes remain poor, and measurement of most prognostic factors still occurs at the time of initial PAH diagnosis or enrollment into clinical trials. Treatment of PAH patients requires an individualized approach based on disease severity and burden of risk factors to improve patient outcomes. This article will focus on the use of risk prediction models to map and target individual disease trajectories to avoid future morbid and mortal events.