Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Right pulmonary artery index helps diagnose pulmonary hypertension
By Visser, L C et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2016·Department of Medicine & Epidemiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Diagnostic Value of Right Pulmonary Artery Distensibility Index in Dogs with Pulmonary Hypertension: Comparison with Doppler Echocardiographic Estimates of Pulmonary Arterial Pressure.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 69 dogs with suspected pulmonary hypertension (PH) underwent tests to measure their heart's function, particularly focusing on the right pulmonary artery. Researchers found that the right pulmonary artery distensibility index (RPAD) was the best predictor of pressure in the pulmonary artery, especially when other measurements were hard to obtain. This new index could help veterinarians diagnose PH more accurately, even when traditional methods are challenging. The study suggests that using the RPAD index could lead to better outcomes for dogs with this condition.
People also search for: dog pulmonary hypertension symptoms · how to diagnose dog heart problems · treatment for dog with high pulmonary artery pressure
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Noninvasive diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH) primarily relies upon Doppler echocardiography of tricuspid regurgitation (TR). However, TR might be absent or difficult to measure. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic value of right pulmonary artery distensibility (RPAD) index for prediction of Doppler-derived estimates of pulmonary artery (PA) pressure compared to other indices of PH in dogs. ANIMALS: Sixty-nine client-owned dogs with TR. METHODS: Prospective observational study. Dogs were allocated to groups according to TR pressure gradient (TRPG): TRPG <36 mmHg (control, n = 22), TRPG 36-50 (n = 16), TRPG 50-75 (n = 14) and TRPG >75 mmHg (n = 17). Right pulmonary artery distensibility index, acceleration time to peak PA flow (AT), AT: ejection time of PA flow (AT:ET) and main PA size: aorta size (MPA:Ao) were calculated in each dog. RESULTS: Right pulmonary artery distensibility index demonstrated the strongest correlation (r = -0.90; P < .0001) to TRPG followed by MPA:Ao (r = 0.78; P < .0001), AT (r = -0.69; P < .0001) and AT:ET (r = -0.68; P < .0001). RPAD index possessed the most accurate cutoff (<29.5%; Sensitivity [Sn] 0.84, Specificity [Sp] 0.95) to predict TRPG >50 mmHg compared to AT (<53.9 ms; Sn 0.74, Sp 0.87), AT:ET (<0.30; Sn 0.61, Sp 0.97) and MPA:Ao (>1.04; Sn 0.94, Sp 0.74). All intra- and interobserver measurement variabilities exhibited coefficients of variation ≤13%. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Right pulmonary artery distensibility index is an accurate predictor of TRPG and should be particularly useful if TR is absent or difficult to measure.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26893108/