Prevalence and etiologies of pulmonary hypertension at Somalia-Turkey Training and Research Hospital in Mogadishu

Abstract

Introduction: pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. This study aimed to determine the ratio distribution and etiological characteristics of PH in Somalia-Turkey Training and Research Hospital.

Methods: the study was designed as a hospital-based retrospective observational study and included 260 patients who were diagnosed with PH by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in the cardiology outpatient clinic in Somalia-Turkey Training and Research Hospital in Mogadishu. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and data on morbidity were retrieved from clinical records.

Results: the echocardiographic prevalence of PH was found to be 18% (n=260). PH due to left heart disease was the most common form of PH (n=151, 58%), followed by PH due to lung disease (n=61, 23%), group 1 PH (n=38, 16%), group 5 PH (n=7, 2%), and chronic thromboembolic PH (CTEPH) (n=3, 1%).

Conclusion: the present study showed that the prevalence of PH in Somalia is relatively higher than the rest of the world's average. The distribution characteristics of the disease could be related to the region-specific differences of the causative diseases. Further studies are needed to better capture the epidemiology of PH in Somalia.