Subcostal echocardiographic assessment of tricuspid annular kick (SEATAK): A novel independent predictor of 30-day mortality in patients with acute pulmonary embolism.

BACKGROUND

The most commonly used parameter of right ventricular (RV) systolic function - tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) - is unavailable for some patients. Subcostal echocardiographic assessment of tricuspid annular kick (SEATAK) has been proposed as its alternative.

AIM

The study aimed to assess the feasibility of SEATAK use in patients with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and its value in prognosis after PE.

METHODS

The observational study included 164 consecutive patients (45.7% men; average age, 70 years) with a high clinical probability of PE referred for computed tomography pulmonary angiography.

RESULTS

SEATAK was unavailable due to inadequate quality of echocardiogram in 2.8% of patients, whereas TAPSE could not be calculated in 4.9%, both parameters were not estimated only in 0.6%. SEATAK and TAPSE values did not differ between groups of patients with PE (n = 82) and without (n = 82). In the whole study, SEATAK correlated positively with TAPSE (r = 0.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.78; P < 0.001), fractional area change of the RV, left ventricular ejection fraction, and peak systolic tricuspid annular velocity assessed with tissue Doppler imaging. There were only 3 echocardiographic predictors of 30-day all-cause mortality in patients with with PE (n = 10): SEATAK, pulmonary acceleration time, and the 60/60 sign. SEATAK predicted 30-day all-cause mortality with AUC (area under the curve) 0.726 (95% CI, 0.594-0.858; P = 0.01) and 30-day PE-related mortality (n = 4) with AUC, 0.772 (95% CI, 0.506-0.998; P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

SEATAK is a promising practicable echocardiographic parameter reflecting RV systolic function and might be an accurate alternative to TAPSE. Moreover, SEATAK could be an independent predictor of all-cause and PE-related 30-day mortality in patients with acute PE.