NPPB and pulmonary arterial hypertension: The analysis again showed that interlobular septal thickening was associated with a seriously increased mortality rate independently of the concentration of BNP (thickening: p = 0.004, hazard ratio [95%CI] = 8.9 [1.9 - 41.7]; BNP: p = 0.005, hazard ratio [95%CI] = 2.0 [1.3 - 3.3]; the causes of PAH: p = 0.30).