Investigations recommended in the assessment of pulmonary hypertension
| Imaging: |
| Chest radiograph |
| Echocardiogram |
| Ventilation perfusion scan |
| High resolution CT lungs |
| Contrast helical CT pulmonary arteries with pulmonary angiography (in selected cases) |
| Abdominal ultrasound |
| Respiratory: |
| Arterial blood gases in room air |
| Lung function (including FEV1, FVC, TLC, Va, Tlco, Kco) |
| Nocturnal oxygen saturation monitoring |
| Cardiology: |
| ECG |
| Submaximal exercise test (six minute walk or incremental shuttle test) |
| Cardiac catheterisation (including right heart catheterisation with saturations and haemodynamics, and acute pulmonary vasoreactivity study) |
| Blood investigations include: |
| Routine biochemistry and haematology |
| Thrombophilia screen |
| Thyroid function |
| Autoimmune screen (including anti-centromere antibody, anti-SCL70 and RNP, phospholipid antibodies) |
| Hepatitis serology |
| Serum angiotensin converting enzyme |
| HIV |
| Urine: |
| β-HCG (women) |
CT, computed tomographic; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in one second; FVC, forced vital capacity; TLC, total lung capacity; Va, alveolar volume; Tlco, carbon monoxide transfer factor; Kco, carbon monoxide transfer factor corrected for alveolar volume; RNP, ribonuclear protein; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus.