Parameters with established importance for assessing disease severity, stability and prognosis in pulmonary arterial hypertension
| Better prognosis | Determinants of prognosis | Worse prognosis |
| No | Clinical evidence of RV failure | Yes |
| Slow | Rate of progression of symptoms | Rapid |
| No | Syncope | Yes |
| I, II | WHO-FC | IV |
| Longer (>500 m)# | 6-MWT | Shorter (<300 m) |
| Peak O2 consumption >15 mL·min−1·kg−1 | Cardiopulmonary exercise testing | Peak O2 consumption <12 mL·min−1·kg−1 |
| Normal or near-normal | BNP/NT-proBNP plasma levels | Very elevated and rising |
| No pericardial effusion TAPSE¶ >2.0 cm | Echocardiographic findings¶ | Pericardial effusion TAPSE¶ <1.5 cm |
| RAP <8 mmHg and CI ≥2.5 L·min−1·m−2 | Haemodynamics | RAP >15 mmHg or CI ≤2.0 L·min−1·m−2 |
RV: right ventricular; WHO-FC: World Health Organization functional class; 6-MWT: 6-min walking test; BNP: brain natriuretic peptide; NT-proBNP: N-terminal proBNP; TAPSE: tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion; RAP: right atrial pressure; CI: cardiac index. #: depending on age; ¶: TAPSE and pericardial effusion have been selected because they can be measured in the majority of the patients. Reproduced from McLaughlin and McGoon 94, with permission from the publisher.