Profile of Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in High Altitude Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To characterize the demographic and clinical profiles of patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (IPAH) admitted to the tertiary care hospital in Aseer region, and to evaluate the altitude effect. Design: A retrospective cohort study. Setting: Aseer Central Hospital. Subjects: All patients admitted with the diagnosis of (IPAH) during the period from January 2001 to January 2009 were enrolled. Main Outcome Measures: Descriptive analysis of demographic and clinical profiles data, and comparative analysis of data among high and low altitude groups. Results: Overall, we found 29 patients with IPAH. The mean age was 42.1 ±25.2 years. 58.6% were females, 86.2% were Saudi nationals, 79.3% were living at high altitude, the most common symptom of presentation was dyspnea in 89.7%. Echocardiography showed evidence of right ventricular enlargement in 65.5%, and the average systolic pulmonary artery pressure was 63.8 ±23.6 mmHG equivalent to mean pulmonary artery pressure of 40.9 ± 16.4 mmHG. The average number of admissions was 6.2±8.2. No statistically significant difference between the high and the low altitude groups was found regarding the demographic or clinical profiles. Conclusions: IPAH is a rare disease in Aseer region, affecting more female than male patients in the middle age group; the majority of these patients were living at high altitude, with no statistically significant difference between the high and the low altitude groups, regarding the demographic or the clinical profiles. Our study was not intended to give prevalence or survival data on IPAH in Aseer region and a national survey is needed to characterize the incidence and prevalence of IPAH in Saudi Arabia.