Association between myocardial right ventricular relaxation time and pulmonary arterial pressure in chronic obstructive lung disease: analysis by pulsed Doppler tissue imaging.

This study assessed right ventricular function in chronic obstructive lung disease and pulmonary hypertension by Doppler tissue imaging. Doppler echocardiography of the right ventricle and Doppler tissue imaging of the tricuspid annulus were performed in 63 subjects: 20 healthy controls, 20 with lung disease, and 23 with both lung disease and pulmonary hypertension. Two-dimensional tricuspid systolic plane excursion was lower in patients with pulmonary hypertension than in the other 2 groups. Doppler tricuspid inflow measurements distinguished patients in both of the diseased groups from the control subjects, but they did not differentiate patients with pulmonary hypertension from those without it. The ratio of peak E-wave to peak A-wave velocities derived by Doppler tissue imaging was significantly lower and the myocardial acceleration time longer in both groups of lung disease than in the control group. Only myocardial relaxation time distinguished the 3 groups (all P <.01); a gradual increase in time occurred, with the shortest time seen in controls, a longer time in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease without pulmonary hypertension, and the longest time in patients with lung disease and pulmonary hypertension. In the overall population including subjects with at least minimal tricuspid regurgitation, myocardial relaxation time was positively related to pulmonary systolic pressure. In conclusion, Doppler tissue imaging distinguishes subsets of patients affected by lung disease with or without pulmonary hypertension and identifies patients with different levels of pulmonary artery systolic pressure.