Stress echocardiography is a useful tool in identifying individuals with autoimmune disease who may have underlying pulmonary arterial disease that may be amenable to therapy. We noted a consistent elevation in sPAP across all autoimmune subtypes, suggesting an abnormal pulmonary vascular response to exercise exists in these patients.

An increase of post-exercise PASP was seen in all patients undergoing SE in this study. Age was directly correlated with post-exercise PASP. Using normative data from healthy controls, treadmill SE-derived post-exercise PASP may be a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of PH.

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