Search

BackgroundQualitative and quantitative flow hemodynamic indexes have been shown to reflect right ventricular (RV) afterload and function in pulmonary hypertension (PH). We aimed to quantify flow hemodynamic formations in pulmonary arteries using 4‐dimensional flow cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and the spatial velocity derivatives helicity and vorticity in a heterogeneous PH population. Methods and ResultsPatients with PH (n=35) and controls (n=10) underwent 4‐dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging study for computation of helicity and vorticity in the main pulmonary artery (MPA), the right pulmonary artery, and the RV outflow tract. Helicity and vorticity were correlated with standard RV volumetric and functional indexes along with MPA stiffness assessed by measuring relative area change. Patients with PH had a significantly decreased helicity in the MPA (8 versus 32 m/s2; P

Although the "3 beat rule" is widely utiized to discriminate patent foramen ovale (PFO)-mediated right-to-left shunt (RTLS) from intrapulmonary RTLS using saline contrast transthoracic echocardiography (SCE), SCE diagnostic performance has yet to be validated using an invasive intracardiac standard. Percutaneous PFO occluder placement was recently shown to ameliorate hypoxia in patients with suspected PFO-mediated RTLS. We evaluated the ability of SCE to predict PFO presence and size using intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) as a gold standard in a hypoxic cohort. Sixty-three hypoxic patients with suspected PFO-mediated RTLS who underwent SCE at rest, with Valsalva maneuver, and with cough prior to ICE were evaluated retrospectively. PFO RTLS was defined by ICE findings including PFO anatomy, RTLS by saline contrast and color Doppler, and probe patency. SCE shunt severity and timing of left heart saline target appearance were compared to the presence of ICE-defined PFO RTLS. Forty-seven patients (75%) met criteria for PFO-mediated RTLS. A 4 beat cutoff for resting SCE provided optimal diagnostic performance for detection of PFO-mediated RTLS with a 71% sensitivity, 94% specificity, and 97% positive predictive value (PPV). Valsalva and cough maneuvers improved sensitivity compared to rest SCE (89% and 80%, respectively). Valsalva SCE shunt severity more accurately predicted PFO size than resting SCE. In contrast to the widely accepted "3 beat rule," resting SCE for the detection of PFO RTLS in a hypoxic population performs optimally using a 4-cycle cutoff with both excellent specificity and PPV., (© 2013, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)