Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar-Apr;30(2):543-52.
doi: 10.1111/jvim.13911. Epub 2016 Feb 19.

Diagnostic Value of Right Pulmonary Artery Distensibility Index in Dogs with Pulmonary Hypertension: Comparison with Doppler Echocardiographic Estimates of Pulmonary Arterial Pressure

Affiliations

Diagnostic Value of Right Pulmonary Artery Distensibility Index in Dogs with Pulmonary Hypertension: Comparison with Doppler Echocardiographic Estimates of Pulmonary Arterial Pressure

L C Visser et al. J Vet Intern Med. 2016 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Background: Noninvasive diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) primarily relies upon Doppler echocardiography of tricuspid regurgitation (TR). However, TR might be absent or difficult to measure.

Hypothesis/objectives: To determine the diagnostic value of right pulmonary artery distensibility (RPAD) index for prediction of Doppler-derived estimates of pulmonary artery (PA) pressure compared to other indices of PH in dogs.

Animals: Sixty-nine client-owned dogs with TR.

Methods: Prospective observational study. Dogs were allocated to groups according to TR pressure gradient (TRPG): TRPG <36 mmHg (control, n = 22), TRPG 36-50 (n = 16), TRPG 50-75 (n = 14) and TRPG >75 mmHg (n = 17). Right pulmonary artery distensibility index, acceleration time to peak PA flow (AT), AT: ejection time of PA flow (AT:ET) and main PA size: aorta size (MPA:Ao) were calculated in each dog.

Results: Right pulmonary artery distensibility index demonstrated the strongest correlation (r = -0.90; P < .0001) to TRPG followed by MPA:Ao (r = 0.78; P < .0001), AT (r = -0.69; P < .0001) and AT:ET (r = -0.68; P < .0001). RPAD index possessed the most accurate cutoff (<29.5%; Sensitivity [Sn] 0.84, Specificity [Sp] 0.95) to predict TRPG >50 mmHg compared to AT (<53.9 ms; Sn 0.74, Sp 0.87), AT:ET (<0.30; Sn 0.61, Sp 0.97) and MPA:Ao (>1.04; Sn 0.94, Sp 0.74). All intra- and interobserver measurement variabilities exhibited coefficients of variation ≤13%.

Conclusions and clinical importance: Right pulmonary artery distensibility index is an accurate predictor of TRPG and should be particularly useful if TR is absent or difficult to measure.

Keywords: Canine; Echocardiography; Prediction; Pulmonary vascular resistance; Right pulmonary artery distensibility.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative measurement and calculation of the right pulmonary artery distensibility (RPAD) index in a dog with a peak tricuspid regurgitation systolic pressure gradient (TRPG) <36 mmHg. RPA, right pulmonary artery; RPAD, RPA at its minimum diameter in diastole; RPAS, RPA at its maximum diameter in systole; RA, right atrium; RV, right ventricle; Ao, aorta; PA, pulmonary artery.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Scatter plots illustrating significant (all P < .0001) correlations (r) between peak tricuspid regurgitation systolic pressure gradient (TRPG) and the 4 indirect echocardiographic indices of pulmonary hypertension: right pulmonary artery distensibility (RPAD) index (upper left), acceleration time to peak pulmonary artery flow (AT; upper right), acceleration time to peak pulmonary artery flow to ejection time of pulmonary artery flow ratio (AT:ET; lower left), and main pulmonary artery to aorta internal diameter ratio (MPA:Ao; lower right). The solid line within each scatter plot represents the line of best fit.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the 4 indirect echocardiographic indices of PH: right pulmonary artery distensibility (RPAD) index (upper left), acceleration time to peak pulmonary artery flow (AT; upper right), acceleration time to peak pulmonary artery flow to ejection time of pulmonary artery flow ratio (AT:ET; lower left), and main pulmonary artery to aorta internal diameter ratio (MPA:Ao; lower right) for the prediction of peak tricuspid regurgitation systolic pressure gradient (TRPG) >50 mmHg in 69 dogs. AUC, area under the ROC curve; CI, confidence interval.

References

    1. Kellihan HB, Stepien RL. Pulmonary hypertension in canine degenerative mitral valve disease. J Vet Cardiol 2012;14:149–164. - PubMed
    1. Borgarelli M, Abbott J, Braz‐Ruivo L, et al. Prevalence and prognostic importance of pulmonary hypertension in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease. J Vet Intern Med 2015;29:569–574. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stepien RL. Pulmonary arterial hypertension secondary to chronic left‐sided cardiac dysfunction in dogs. J Small Anim Pract 2009;50(Suppl 1):34–43. - PubMed
    1. Johnson L, Boon J, Orton EC. Clinical characteristics of 53 dogs with Doppler‐derived evidence of pulmonary hypertension: 1992–1996. J Vet Intern Med 1999;13:440–447. - PubMed
    1. Borgeat K, Sudunagunta S, Kaye B, et al. Retrospective evaluation of moderate‐to‐severe pulmonary hypertension in dogs naturally infected with Angiostrongylus vasorum . J Small Anim Pract 2015;56:196–202. - PubMed

Publication types