Background Many COPD patients present with severe PH defned by a pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR)>5 WU
as measured by right heart catheterization (RHC), and infammation is thought to be contributing strongly to pulmonary vascular remodeling in COPD besides hypoxia. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is thought to be a major cytokine that may be
involved in development of PH in these patients.
Objective This study aimed to identify the incidence of PH in COPD and its relation to infammatory marker IL-1.
Patients and methods One-hundred COPD patients underwent echocardiography and serum IL-1 analysis,
and patients with high probability of PH underwent pulmonary artery catheterization using Swan-Ganz catheter.
Results The mean serum IL-1 level was 82 pg/ml±22 pg/ml (the normal IL-1 serum level is known to be 0:5 pg/mL),
51% of the participants were categorized as having a low probability of PH, 35% was intermediate, and 14% was high.
RHC results were as follows: mild combined pre- and postcapillary PH was diagnosed in 14.3% of the patients. Mild
precapillary PH was found in 42.9%, making it the most common type. Severe combined pre- and postcapillary PH
was noted in 21.4% of the patients. Severe precapillary PH was present in 14.3%. A signifcant positive correlations
were observed between serum IL-1 and tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRV) (r=0.409, P