Relationship between echocardiographic and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging-derived measures of right ventricular function in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Echocardiography is widely used to evaluate right ventricular (RV) function. However, the value of echocardiographic parameters to assess RV function in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is unknown. In this study, we analyzed the correlations between echocardiographic parameters and the RV ejection fraction (RVEF) as measured by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to systematically elucidate the role of echocardiographic parameters in the assessment of RV function in patients with CTEPH.

METHODS: Echocardiography was used to measure the tissue Doppler-derived tricuspid lateral annular systolic velocity (S'), fractional area change (FAC), myocardial performance index (MPI), and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE). CMR was used to measure the RV end-diastolic volume (RVEDV) and end-systolic volume (RVESV), and the RVEF was calculated.

RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was found between S' and RVEF (r=0.689, P<0.0001) and between FAC and RVEF (r=0.423, P=0.022), a significant negative correlation was found between MPI and RVEF (r=-0.387, P=0.048), and no correlation was found between TAPSE and RVEF (r=0.451, P=0.22).

CONCLUSION: Echocardiography can be routinely used in the clinical setting to measure S', FAC, and MPI for the evaluation of right heart function in patients with CTEPH.