Background: Transthoracic Doppler-echocardiography (TTE) can estimate mean pulmonary arterial pressure (MPAP) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) reliably, and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the best modality for non-invasive measurement of cardiac output (CO). We speculated that the combined use of TTE and CMR could provide a feasible method for non-invasive measurement of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).
Methods and results: Right heart catheterization (RHC) was undertaken in 77 patients (17M/60F) with PAH, and simultaneous TTE was carried out to evaluate MPAP, PCWP and CO. Within 2 days, CO was measured again with CMR in similar physiological status. Then, PVR was calculated with the integrated non-invasive method: TTE-derived (MPAP-PCWP)/CMR-derived CO and the isolated TTE method: TTE-derived (MPAP-PCWP)/TTE-derived CO, respectively. The PVR calculated with integrated non-invasive method correlated well with RHC-calculated PVR (r = 0.931, 95% confidence interval 0.893 to 0.956). Between the integrated non-invasive PVR and RHC-calculated PVR, the Bland-Altman analysis showed the satisfactory limits of agreement (mean value: - 0.89 ± 2.59). In comparison, the limits of agreement were less satisfactory between TTE-calculated PVR and RHC-calculated PVR (mean value: - 1.80 ± 3.33). Furthermore, there were excellent intra- and inter-observer correlations for the measurements of TTE and CMR (P < 0.001 for all).
Conclusions: The combined use of TTE and CMR provides a clinically reliable method to determine PVR non-invasively. In comparison with RHC, the integrated method shows good accuracy and repeatability, which suggests the potential for the evaluation and serial follow-up in patients with PAH.
Translational perspective: In PAH, the non-invasive measurement of PVR is very important in clinical practice. Up to now, however, the widely accepted non-invasive method is still unavailable. Since TTE can estimate (MPAP-PCWP) reliably and CMR is the best image modality for the measurement of CO, the combined use of two modalities has the potential to determine PVR non-invasively. In this research, the integrated non-invasive method showed good diagnostic accuracy and repeatability compared with RHC. Therefore, it might be a feasible method for non-invasive measurement of PVR in patients with PAH.
Keywords: Cardiac magnetic resonance; Doppler echocardiography; Pulmonary arterial hypertension; Pulmonary vascular resistance.