Increased hypoxemia in patients with COPD and pulmonary hypertension undergoing bronchoscopy with biopsy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) are considered to be at risk for complications associated with flexible bronchoscopy (FB), but data concerning the degree of PH are often lacking. We investigated whether COPD patients with PH who undergo bronchoscopy are at greater risk for complications. METHODS: This prospective study included 207 consecutive COPD patients undergoing FB. All underwent an echo-Doppler to evaluate pulmonary artery pressure on the day of the bronchoscopy procedure. Pulmonologists were blinded to the echocardiogram results. RESULTS: A total of 167 patients (80.7%) had normal pulmonary pressure. The remaining 40 patients (19.3%) had PH: 27 (13.0%) mild, eight (3.9%) moderate, and five (2.4%) severe. Noninvasive hemodynamic parameters between groups before and after FB were similar. Two patients with normal pulmonary pressure developed supraventricular tachycardia. None developed hemodynamically significant dysrhythmia. Bleeding episodes between groups in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and transbronchial biopsy (TBB) did not differ. PH patients who underwent BAL and TBB had decreased O(2) saturation during the procedure compared with the non-PH group (23.5% vs 6.9%, P=0.033). No deaths were attributable to FB. CONCLUSION: PH is common among COPD patients undergoing FB. PH patients undergoing BAL and TBB are at higher risk of decreased O(2) saturation than those without PH. Further studies should assess the risk among COPD patients with moderate-to-severe PH.