Reversibility of pulmonary artery hypertension in aortic stenosis after aortic valve replacement

Fifty-two surgical patients with isolated aortic valve stenosis were studied preoperatively and postoperatively to determine the incidence of pulmonary hypertension and its response to surgical intervention. Pulmonary artery systolic hypertension was classified as absent (group 1, < 30 mm Hg), mild (group 2, 30 to 39 mm Hg), moderate (group 3, 40 to 59 mm Hg), and severe (group 4, >60 mm Hg). Thirty-seven of our patients (71%) had preoperative pulmonary hypertension. There was a positive correlation between left ventricular end-diastolic pressure and both systolic and diastolic pulmonary artery pressures preoperatively (p