Advances in the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH) have gradually improved the disease course. This retrospective cohort study aims to explore the diagnostic hemodynamic profile and survival of PH patients and their temporal changes, as well as investigate potential prognostic factors. Overall, 257 adult patients were diagnosed with PH following right heart catheterization (RHC) from January 2008 to June 2023 according to the hemodynamic cut-off values proposed by the corresponding ESC/ERS guidelines at the time RHC was performed. Of these patients, 46.3% were Group 1, 17.8% Group 2, 14.0% Group 3, 18.0% Group 4, and 3.0% Group 5 PH. Temporal improvement in both diagnostic hemodynamic profile and survival of patients with PH and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was identified after 2013. Survival analysis demonstrated 5-year survival rates of 65% in Group 1 PH (90.3% in idiopathic PAH) and 77% in Group 4 PH. PAH patients being at low risk at diagnosis presented a similar 1-year all-cause mortality rate (12.4%) with high-risk ones (12.8%), primarily due to non-PH-related causes of death (62%), while high-risk patients died mostly due to PH (67%). The observed improvements in diagnostic hemodynamic profiles and overall survival highlight the importance of timely diagnosis and successful treatment strategies in PH.

Introduction: The evaluation of myocardial contractility is essential in cardiology practice. The gold standard for this evaluation is the end-systolic elastance, but it the method involved is complex. Echocardiographic measurement of the ejection fraction (EF) is the most commonly used parameter in clinical practice, but it has significant limitations, especially in patients with afterload mismatch. In this study, the area under the curve (AUC) of the isovolumetric contraction was measured to evaluate the myocardial contractility in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and severe aortic stenosis. Methods: 110 patients with severe aortic stenosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension were included in this study. The AUC of the isovolumetric contraction was measured using pressure curves of the right ventricle–pulmonary artery and left ventricle–aorta ascendens. This AUC was then correlated with the echocardiographically measured EF, stroke volume (SV), and total ventricular work. Results: The AUC of the isovolumetric contraction showed a statistically significant correlation with the EF of the corresponding ventricle (p < 0.0001). Both the AUC of the isovolumetric contraction and the EF showed a statistically significant correlation with the total work of the ventricle (AUC: R2 0.49, p < 0.001; EF: R2 0.51, p < 0.001). However, the SV only showed a statistically significant correlation with the EF. A statistically significant one-sample t-test could be found for the EF (decreased, p < 0.001) and for the AUC of the isovolumetric contraction (increased, p < 0.001), but not for the total work of the ventricle. Conclusion: The AUC space of the isovolumetric contraction is a useful marker of ventricular performance in patients with afterload mismatch, showing a statistically significant correlation with the EF and the total ventricular work. This method may have potential for use in clinical practice, especially in challenging cardiological cases. However, further studies are needed to evaluate its usefulness in healthy individuals and in other clinical scenarios.