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Assessment of Right and Left Ventricular Function in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Their Co-Relation with the Severity of Disease.

Amresh Kumar, Tanu Agrawal, and Lovekush Gupta

The aim of this study was to evaluate both right ventricle (RV) and left ventricular (LV) function in patients with COPD by echocardiography and its correlation with severity of disease. Sixty two patients with COPD and twenty healthy subjects were assessed by echocardiography and pulmonary function test. LV parameters were similar in both groups while RV parameters were significantly different in COPD patients as compared to control group. LV diastolic dysfunction was significantly higher in COPD patients. Mild, moderate, severe, and very severe COPD were seen in 30.7%, 40.3 %, 22.5%, and 6.5% patients, respectively. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) was observed in 38.7% patients. Mild, moderate and severe PH were present in 45.8%, 41.7%, and 12.5% respectively cor pulmonale was observed in 41.9%, while RV and LV systolic dysfunction were present in 20.9% and 3.2% of all COPD patients respectively. There is high prevalence of pulmonary hypertension, cor pulmonale and right ventricular systolic dysfunction in COPD and severity increases with level of severity of COPD. Impairment of LV systolic function was rarely found, while LV diastolic function was very common.