A national audit conducted by the Health and Social Care Information Center reveals that the number of new referrals for pulmonary hypertension has increased 21% in the UK in the last five years.
The National Pulmonary Hypertension Audit–2015 was a nationwide study on the eight specialized PH centers in the UK to describe clinical practice, provide future service planning information, and measure clinical outcomes.
According to a press release, besides the increase in the number of new referrals, a quick look at some statistics on March 31, 2015, showed a 56% increase in the number of patients that were being treated at specialist PH centers, reaching a total of 6,671. In 2010, when the first audit took place, there were 4,287 patients being treated.
The five-year survival rate was also analyzed, and it varied from a median of four years and 213 days to two years and 13 days, depending on the specific type of PH diagnosed. For idiopathic, heritable or anorexigen induced hypertension, the median survival was four years and 104 days; left heart disease was four years and 213 days; lung disease was two years and 13 days; and connective tissue disease was three years and 335 days.
