Elsevier

IJC Heart & Vasculature

Volume 12, September 2016, Pages 45-51
IJC Heart & Vasculature

Assessment of pulmonary artery pressure by echocardiography—A comprehensive review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcha.2016.05.011Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Raised artery pulmonary pressure (PAP) is associated with increased mortality.

  • We review the eight published echo techniques to assess PAP by echocardiography.

  • Knowledge of all the echo techniques could avoid need for invasive tests.

  • A scoring system combining various echo-derived measurements of PAP is needed.

Abstract

Pulmonary hypertension is a pathological haemodynamic condition defined as an increase in mean pulmonary arterial pressure  25 mmHg at rest, assessed using gold standard investigation by right heart catheterisation. Pulmonary hypertension could be a complication of cardiac or pulmonary disease, or a primary disorder of small pulmonary arteries. Elevated pulmonary pressure (PAP) is associated with increased mortality, irrespective of the aetiology. The gold standard for diagnosis is invasive right heart catheterisation, but this has its own inherent risks. In the past 30 years, immense technological improvements in echocardiography have increased its sensitivity for quantifying pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and it is now recognised as a safe and readily available alternative to right heart catheterisation. In the future, scores combining various echo techniques can approach the gold standard in terms of sensitivity and accuracy, thereby reducing the need for repeated invasive assessments in these patients.

Keywords

Pulmonary hypertension by echo
Pulmonary pressure by echocardiography
Tricuspid Regurgitation Vmax
Pulmonary acceleration time
Pulmonary vascular resistance by echo

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