[Improvement in the measurement technique of pulmonary artery pressure by Doppler echocardiography with contrast in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the benefit of contrast echocardiography in the assessment of systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAPs).

DESIGN

Compare standard reference (Doppler-echocardiography) with contrast.

LOCATION

Echocardiography department.

PATIENTS

Ambulatory chronic obstructive patient disease (COPD).

INTERVENTION

Continuous wave Doppler spectral signal of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) was evaluated before and after intravenous injection of a galactose-based intravenous echo-enhancing agent. A four patterns scale classified the quality of the TR signal: 0=absent regurgitation; 1=protosystolic signal not allowing the recognition of peak velocity; 2=non-homogenous signal intensity, albeit allowing the measurement of maximal velocity; and 3=uniform pansystolic velocity signal. PAPs was estimated adding 10 mm Hg to the transtricuspid gradient, calculated from the TR peak velocity.

RESULTS

PAPs was only calculated reliably in 20 (49%) patients before the administration of contrast. Seventeen patients were classified as pattern 2, and three as pattern 3 on the scale of the TR quality signal. After contrast 41 (95%) patients showed a reliable TR signal. Two were classified as pattern 1, 11 as pattern 2 and 28 as pattern 3 on the scale of the TR quality signal. In the 20 patients in whom PAPs was estimated before contrast, a significant increase in PAPs values occurred after contrast, 44±10 mm Hg vs. 56±15 mm Hg (p<0.01).

CONCLUSION

The use of an echocardiography contrast agent increases the number of COPD patients in whom PAPs can be estimated non-invasively and may avoid underestimation of the PAP value.