European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is defined by GOLD as a common, preventable and treatable disease that is characterized by persistent respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation that is due to airway and/or alveolar abnormalities usually caused by significant exposure to noxious particles or gases. [1] The most common respiratory symptoms include dyspnea, cough and/or sputum production. These symptoms may be under-reported by patients. Material and Methods: This is a Prospective, observational, comparative study was conducted in the Departments of Physiology at Index Medical College. The sample size for this research study was calculated on the basis of prevalence of abnormal left and right ventricular dysfunction of 25% in known patients of COPD at 95% confidence interval and an absolute precision of 10%. Right atrial Pressure (RAP) was estimated from the evaluation of the inferior vena cava during respiration. If the inferior vena cava diameter is normal and the segment adjacent to the right atrium collapses by at least 50% with respiration, then right atrial pressure is estimated as 5 mm Hg. Results: Number of males is slightly higher than females in the study group. But there was no significant difference in sex between the study group and the control group. There is no significant difference in age between COPD and control group. The minimum age of the patient was considered to be 35 because COPD is usually a disease of middle age and is less likely below 35 years. The mean difference in FEV1 in the study group is 1.03±0.31 and in control group is 4.23± 0.91. By applying student t test, p value was found to be significant between the two groups. The mean difference in FVC is 2.03±0.34 in COPD group and 4.61±0.88 in the control group. P value was significant between the two groups. The mean difference in the FEV1/FVC in COPD group was 53.15±9.99 and control group was 83.88±6.66. p value was significant. Conclusions: This study on clinically stable patients with COPD with a wide range of severity of airways disease provides evidence of subclinical RV dysfunction and suggests that cardiovascular comorbidities may begin early in COPD and are often occult. RIMP and RV basal strain showed largest difference between controls and COPD cases irrespective of the presence or absence of PH