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Early onset of retrograde flow in the main pulmonary artery is a characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension
Author(s) -
Helderman Frank,
Mauritz GertJan,
Andringa Kirsten E.,
VonkNoordegraaf Anton,
Marcus J. Tim
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.22581
Subject(s) - medicine , pulmonary artery , pulmonary hypertension , cardiology , pulmonary wedge pressure , main pulmonary artery , artery , cardiac catheterization , hemodynamics
Purpose: To evaluate if early onset of retrograde flow in the main pulmonary artery is a characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Materials and Methods: Fifty‐five patients with suspected pulmonary hypertension (PH) underwent right‐sided heart catheterization and retrospectively ECG‐gated MR phase‐contrast velocity quantification in the main pulmonary artery. Pulmonary hypertension was defined by a mean pulmonary artery pressure being larger than 25 mmHg. The onset time of the retrograde flow relative to the cardiac cycle duration (Relative Onset Time = ROT) was compared with mean pulmonary artery pressure. Results: By the catheterization, 38 patients were identified as having PAH. The ROT for these PAH patients was significantly different from those found in the 17 non‐PH subjects (0.14 ± 0.06 versus 0.37 ± 0.06, P < 0.001). The mean pulmonary artery pressure was related to the ROT (r 2 = 0.62, P < 0.001) and could be estimated from the ROT with a standard deviation of 11.7 mmHg. With a cutoff value of 0.25, the ROT distinguished PAH patients from non‐PH subjects. Conclusion: Early onset of retrograde flow in the main pulmonary artery is a characteristic of pulmonary arterial hypertension and is visible by standard MR phase‐contrast velocity quantification. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;33:1362–1368. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.