Predictors of reversibility of pulmonary hypertension in cardiac transplant recipients in the first postoperative year.

Abstract

Nitroprusside testing improves the prediction of late posttransplant pulmonary vascular resistance; hence, it provides data that may be relevant to both early operative risk and later long-term effectiveness of cardiac transplantation. The finding of increased risk of fixed pulmonary hypertension associated with ischemic heart disease and smoking suggests that underlying atherosclerotic vascular disease may contribute to the irreversibility of pulmonary vascular resistance.