Longitudinal Deformation Indices of the Pulmonary Artery in Patients With Pulmonary Venous Hypertension



Mostafavi A¹ ; Hajiali H¹ ; Tabatabaei SAH¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Iranian Heart Journal Published:2017

Abstract

Background: In this study, pulmonary artery longitudinal deformation indices were evaluated in patients with pulmonary venous hypertension and compared to those in normal subjects to delineate the effects of a high pulmonary pressure on vessel wall characteristics. Methods: Fifteen patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary venous hypertension and 15 healthy individual were evaluated. In the parasternal short-axis view at the level of the aortic valve, the longitudinal axis of the pulmonary artery was obtained and velocity, strain, and strain rate at different levels of the vessel wall were measured by color-coded Doppler myocardial imaging. Results: The systolic strain was positive in most segments of both normal and pulmonary hypertension groups. Negative strain was observed only in some parts of the proximal segments in the normal group, but was defined in the other parts of the vessel wall in the pulmonary hypertension group. Velocity, strain, and strain rate were significantly lower in the pulmonary hypertension group, mostly in the medial wall. Conclusions: This study evaluated the deformation indices of the pulmonary artery in patients with pulmonary venous hypertension and compared them to those in normal subjects. This was the first study by color-coded Doppler myocardial imaging and found a significant reduction in velocity, strain, and strain rate in the pulmonary hypertension group. Our findings can be a basis for future investigations in other types of pulmonary hypertension. © 2017, Iranian Heart Association. All rights reserved.