[Usefulness of Doppler echocardiography for evaluation of pulmonary hypertension based on the analysis of blood flow through the pulmonary artery]

Abstract

In 41 patients with cardiac defects cardiac catheterization and echocardiographic examination were performed to evaluate the usefulness of Doppler echocardiography for estimation the grade of pulmonary hypertension. Parameter for noninvasive estimation of mean pulmonary artery pressure was the acceleration time (AcT) calculated basing on pulsed Doppler recordings of blood flow through the right ventricular outflow tract. Technics of examination and calculation of mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) were concordant with Kitabatake's methodology. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to MPAP values measured by the invasive method. MPAP values obtained using Doppler method were not identical with results of direct measurements, but in the majority of patients (85%) Doppler method allowed to properly qualify patients to a respective group--with normal, moderate or very high pulmonary artery pressure. We think that the presented method is a semiquantitative one and useful for monitoring of pulmonary pressure in patients with cardiac defects.