Nitrogen dioxide component of air pollution increases pulmonary congestion assessed by lung ultrasound in patients with chronic coronary syndromes

Pulmonary congestion is an intermediate biomarker and long-term predictor of acute decompensated heart failure. To evaluate the effects of air pollution on pulmonary congestion assessed by lung ultrasound. In a single-center, prospective, observational study design, we enrolled 1292 consecutive patients with chronic coronary syndromes referred for clinically indicated ABCDE-SE, with dipyridamole ( n = 1207), dobutamine ( n = 84), or treadmill exercise ( n = 1). Pulmonary congestion was evaluated with lung ultrasound and a 4-site simplified scan. Same day values of 4 pollutants were obtained on the morning of testing (average of 6 h) from publicly available data sets of the regional authority of environmental protection. Assessment of air pollution included fine (