Saudi Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension: Biomarkers in pulmonary arterial hypertension

The biomarker is an indicaror of a biological or pathological process. Clinical observations, measures or environmental events, or measured laboratory values can all be biomarkers in the appropriate setting. An ideal biomarker reflects the underlying biological process, predicts clinical events, is easily obtainable, is reproducible and is not prohibitively expensive. This typically requires validation in longitudinal cohort studies. Biomarkers may help understand the pathological mechanisms responsible for the disease, help as screening tools, predict disease worsening or decline, and determine adequacy of response to therapeutic interventions.