Abstract

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease state
characterized by airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. An increased
inflammatory response in the lungs plays a central role in the pathogenesis of COPD.
Oxidative stress and systemic inflammation are co-dependent processes. Pulmonary
hypertension is a common complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD). The present study is an attempt to study the various markers of oxidative
stress in COPD and their co relation with pulmonary hypertensionusing 2D ECHO
findings.
Materials and Methods: The present study enrolled 100 participants, 50 of them
diagnosed cases of COPD and the remaining 50 as control. Apart from the chest X ray,
routine blood investigations, sputum AFB examination and PFT, 6-minute walk test
(6MWT), 2D Echo and levels of above mentioned oxidative and inflammatory markers
were done of the patients. Pulmonary hypertension diagnosed based on the
Transthoracic 2D – ECHO by TR jet method – presence of mPAP more than 25 mmHg
considered as the criteria for defining pulmonary hypertension. As far as the
quantitative data was concerned, comparison between the 2 groups was done using
unpaired t test, and for the qualitative data appropriate data was used.