Electrocardiogram-based scoring system for predicting secondary pulmonary hypertension: A cross-sectional study

Objectives In this study, we have developed an electrocardiogram-based scoring system to predict secondary pulmonary hypertension. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting Single tertiary-care hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. Participants Five hundred and fifty-two consecutive patients undergoing right heart catheterization between 2006 and 2009. Main outcome measures Surface electrocardiogram was assessed for R-wave in lead V1 ≥ 6mm, R-wave in V6 ≤ 3mm, S-wave in V6 ≥ 3mm, right atrial enlargement, right axis deviation and left atrial enlargement. Pulmonary hypertension was defined as mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mmHg, determined by right heart catheterization. Results A total of 297 (54%) patients in the study cohort had pulmonary hypertension. In total, 332 patients from the study cohort formed the development cohort and the remaining 220 patients formed the validation cohort. In the development cohort, based on log odds ratios of association, RAE, LAE, RAD, R-wave in V1 ≥ 6 mm were assigned scores of 5, 2, 2 and 1, respectively, to form a 10-point scoring system “Scranton PHT (SP) score”. SP scores of 5 points and 7 points in DC showed C-statistic of 0.83 and 0.89, respectively, for discriminating pulmonary hypertension. C-statistic for RAE alone was significantly lower compared to an SP score of 7 (0.83 vs. 0.89, P  = 0.021). The reliability of SP score in the validation cohort was acceptable. Conclusion SP score provides a good point-of-care tool to predict pulmonary hypertension in patients with clinical suspicion of it