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Abstract The aim of the present study was to identify the effect of COPD on the pulmonary artery pressure and to identify the relation between hypoxia and FEV1% on one hand, and the degree of pulmonary hypertension on the other hand. It included 40 patients with COPD, 20 patients with moderate to severe COPD (first group) and 20 patients with very severe COPD (second group). The study revealed the followings: • COPD is an important cause of PH • PH is common in patients with COPD and it is usually mild to moderate with a prevalence rate of 62.5% in the study sample • Severe PH is not common in patients with COPD, and when it is found in a patient with COPD, another cause, which may be treatable, should be sought. • In patients with moderate to severe COPD, the degree of pulmonary hypertension tends to increase with the increase in degrees of airway obstruction. • There is a small subset of patients who may suffer from severe PH out of proportion to the degree of airway obstruction. • Patients with COPD may suffer from PH taking no account of their degrees of hypoxia. |