ABSTRACT
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with an increasing prevalence during the past decade (1). One well-known complication of COPD is pulmonary hypertension (PH), a condition that was denominated “cor pulmonale” in the past (2-4). Owing to its frequency, COPD is by far the most common cause of PH, far more common than interstitial lung disease, obesity-hypoventilation syndrome, pulmonary thromboembolic disease, and idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It should be emphasized that PH is only one among other complications of advanced COPD and that the prognosis of COPD is linked to the severity of respiratory insufficiency rather than to the occurrence of PH, which is essentially a “marker” of long-standing hypoxemia (5). This does not apply to severe or “disproportionate” PH, but very few COPD patients exhibit this severe form of PH (6). This chapter gives an overview of PH resulting from COPD and tries to cover all aspects from epidemiology to treatment.
