A Meta-Analysis to Determine the Effect of Pulmonary Hypertension on Patients With Systemic Sclerosis

A meta-analysis of six studies was conducted to evaluate potential variables associated with arterial hypertension in systemic sclerosis. The variables were classified into four categories: clinical and demographic parameters, laboratory tests, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram. All patients were entitled to retrieve the previously described information if they were practicing cardiac care. The meta-analysis was conducted in three stages, selecting candidate variables associated with arterial hypertension.

The most serious complication of systemic sclerosis, a rare, progressive autoimmune disease that causes vascular dysfunction, fibrosis, and multi-organ involvement, is pulmonary hypertension, which leads to an increase in morbidity and mortality. The present case-control meta-analysis aims to evaluate the impact of pulmonary hypertension on clinical outcomes, such as survival rates, associated function decline, and risk factors, among patients with systemic sclerosis.

Meta-analysis shows that PH among SSc patients is associated with Increased Mortality where The pooled OR showed significantly increased risk for death among SSc-PH patients in comparison to the SSc non-PH cohorts (median survival post-diagnosis: 3-5 years) and Decline in Function Reduced 6MWD and advanced NYHA class (III/IV) were constantly reported, indicating severe impairments in exercise capacity and quality of life addition to assessment Risk Factors Impaired DLCO (<60%) and certain autoantibodies (anti-centromere, anti-Scl-70) are found to be good predictive markers for development of PH.