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Normal values of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and the blood pressure response to the Valsalva manoeuvre in healthy elderly subjects
Author(s) -
Remmen Jaap J.,
Aengevaeren Wim R. M.,
Verheugt Freek W. A.,
Jansen René W. M. M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
clinical physiology and functional imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.608
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-097X
pISSN - 1475-0961
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-097x.2005.00630.x
Subject(s) - medicine , valsalva maneuver , blood pressure , pulmonary wedge pressure , cardiology , wedge (geometry) , physics , optics
Summary The blood pressure response to the Valsalva manoeuvre is related to pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) and can be used to diagnose heart failure. However, this has never been studied specifically in the elderly, in whom the prevalence of heart failure is highest. Furthermore, normal values of the Valsalva manoeuvre are lacking. We aimed to obtain normal values of PCWP and the blood pressure response to the Valsalva manoeuvre in elderly subjects. Therefore, 28 healthy subjects, aged 70 ± 4 years, performed Valsalva manoeuvres before and after anti‐G garment inflation, which was used for temporary increase of PCWP. Before inflation, PCWP was 9·8 ± 1·9 mmHg in supine and 8·9 ± 2·1 in semi‐recumbent position. From the blood pressure response, measured with Finapres, the systolic blood pressure ratio (SBPR), pulse pressure ratio (PPR), stroke volume ratio (SVR) and heart rate ratio (HRR) were calculated. In supine position, SBPR was 0·76 ± 0·11, PPR 0·51 ± 0·16, SVR 0·42 ± 0·11, and HRR 1·17 ± 0·12. Semi‐recumbently, SBPR was 0·74 ± 0·10, PPR 0·46 ± 0·14, SVR 0·41 ± 0·10, and HRR 1·24 ± 0·23. After inflation of the anti‐G garment, the areas under the Receiver Operator Characteristics curves of SBPR, PPR and SVR for elevated (≥15 mmHg) PCWP were >0·85 in supine position. In conclusion, this is the first study to obtain normal values of the blood pressure response to the Valsalva manoeuvre and PCWP in healthy elderly subjects, which is essential for the interpretation of patient data. The Valsalva manoeuvre showed significant discriminatory power in the detection of elevated PCWP, which underscores its potential in the non‐invasive diagnosis of heart failure.