Surrogate Markers for Pulmonary Hypertension May Inform Prognosis in Lung Cancer

Forbes et al discuss the study by Eul and colleagues on the prevalence of computed tomography (CT) surrogate markers for PH and their impact on survival in patients with lung cancer. In the first part of their analysis, they measured pulmonary artery (PA) and ascending aorta (A) diameter on baseline high-resolution CT in 670 patients with lung cancer. As the authors point out, a major limitation of the study is the use of noninvasive means to diagnose PH without confirmatory right heart catheterization, which remains the gold standard for diagnosis according to the sixth World Symposium on Pulmonary Hypertension. This study offers novel data suggesting possible increased prevalence of PH in patients with lung cancer.