SUMMARY The patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibit several abnormalities in the echocardiogram, which are the result of the increased pressure in the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. The prognostic value of the pressure level in the pulmonary artery and the systolic and diastolic flattening of the interventricular septum as assessed with the echocardiogram has not been established in the literature yet. The aim of this study is to estimate the systolic pressure of the pulmonary artery in patients with COPD, who present with or without flattening of the interventricular septum. Pneumon 1999, 12 (1): 20-25