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Review
. 2021 Jun 26;10(13):2826.
doi: 10.3390/jcm10132826.

Echocardiography in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Is It Time to Reconsider Its Prognostic Utility?

Ioannis T Farmakis  1 , Eftychia Demerouti  2 , Panagiotis Karyofyllis  3 , George Karatasakis  2 , Maria Stratinaki  4 , Dimitrios Tsiapras  2 , George Athanassopoulos  2 , Vassilios Voudris  3 , George Giannakoulas  1
Affiliations
Review

Echocardiography in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Is It Time to Reconsider Its Prognostic Utility?

Ioannis T Farmakis et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by an insult in the pulmonary vasculature, with subsequent right ventricular (RV) adaptation to the increased afterload that ultimately leads to RV failure. The awareness of the importance of RV function in PAH has increased considerably because right heart failure is the predominant cause of death in PAH patients. Given its wide availability and reduced cost, echocardiography is of paramount importance in the evaluation of the right heart in PAH. Several echocardiographic parameters have been shown to have prognostic implications in PAH; however, the role of echocardiography in the risk assessment of the PAH patient is limited under the current guidelines. This review discusses the echocardiographic evaluation of the RV in PAH and during therapy, and its prognostic implications, as well as the potential significant role of repeated echocardiographic assessment in the follow-up of patients with PAH.

Keywords: echocardiography; pulmonary arterial hypertension; right ventricle.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors state that there is no conflict of interest regarding this work. Eftychia Demerouti declares consultancy and speaker fees from Actelion Pharmaceutical Hellas, Demo Hellas, GlaxoSmithkline, Janssen, Merck and Sharp and research support from Elpen Pharmaceuticals and Galenica. Panagiotis Karyofyllis declares consultancy fees from Actelion Pharmaceutical Hellas, Janssen and MSD Hellas. Dimitrios Tsiapras reports consultancy fees from GlaxoSmithkline. George Giannakoulas reports speaker and consultancy fees from Actelion, Bayer, ELPEN Pharmaceuticals, GSK, Pfizer, Lilly, and United Therapeutics, and research support from GSK, ELPEN Pharmaceuticals, and Galenica.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular function in pulmonary arterial hypertension. 4CV: four-chamber view; FAC: fractional area change; LSS: longitudinal free-wall strain; RA: right atrium; RV: right ventricular; TAPSE: tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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