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Benefits of Screening for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Early Detection Is Key in PAH

Being at risk for PAH, early screening and possible diagnosis of PAH are essential. People with PAH associated with scleroderma can decline rapidly. That is why it is important to diagnose PAH as early as possible. The sooner you are diagnosed, the sooner your doctor may be able to help manage your PAH.1

Here’s the good news: regular screening may help to detect PAH early. 
PAH experts* recommend that you get screened every year. If you are diagnosed 
with PAH, medicines are available that may be able to help.2-4

Because PAH can begin before you notice it, annual screening is 
an important tool that can help your doctor catch it early.3,5

Regular Screenings May Improve Outcomes

  • Even if you do not have signs, screening for PAH associated with scleroderma is essential. It can help you get a diagnosis early, when the disease is still considered mild5†
  • Regular screening and early diagnosis of PAH may help people with PAH associated with scleroderma have improved outcomes6‡
  • Research has shown that people who were diagnosed with PAH associated with scleroderma with proactive screening had higher survival rates than people diagnosed during regular clinical practice‡

Take Charge of Your Health

If you have scleroderma, experts recommend annual screening for PAH.3*

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Have Questions About PAH?

See some of the most commonly asked questions about scleroderma and PAH.

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*Recommendations for annual PAH screening of people with systemic sclerosis are included in the 2015 European Society of Cardiology/European Respiratory Society Guidelines, proceedings from the 6th World Symposium of Pulmonary Hypertension, and results of a consensus survey of experts in the field of PAH and scleroderma.

†Mild disease includes early World Health Organization (WHO) Functional Class (I or II), moderately elevated mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance, and a preserved cardiac index.

‡People from the French PAH Registry and the ItinérAIR-Sclérodermie program who were diagnosed with PAH with proactive screening included people with systemic sclerosis who entered a systematic PAH detection program and were subsequently found to have PAH with a right heart catheterization. People who were diagnosed during the routine practice group included consecutive adults with symptomatic systemic sclerosis diagnosed with PAH by right heart catheterization at the time of recruitment into the French PAH Registry.

References: 1. McLaughlin V, Humbert M, Coghlan G, Nash P, Steen V. Pulmonary arterial hypertension: the most devastating vascular complication of systemic sclerosis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2009;48(Suppl 3):iii25-iii31. 2. Galiè N, Humbert M, Vachiery J-L, et al. 2015 ESC/ERS Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension: the Joint Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS). Eur Heart J. 2016;37(1):67-119. 3. Khanna D, Gladue H, Channick R, et al. Recommendations for screening and detection of connective-tissue disease associated pulmonary arterial hypertension. Arthritis Rheum. 2013;65(12):3194-3201. 4. Frost A, Badesch D, Gibbs JSR, et al. Diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. Eur Respir J. 2019;53(1):1801904. doi:10.1183/13993003.01904-2018 5. Coghlan JG, Denton CP, Grünig E, et al; DETECT study group. Evidence-based detection of pulmonary arterial hypertension in systemic sclerosis: the DETECT study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014;73(7):1340-1349. 6. Humbert M, Yaici A, de Groote P, et al. Screening for pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with systemic sclerosis: clinical characteristics at diagnosis and long-term survival. Arthritis Rheum. 2011;63(11):3522-3530.