Open AccessDoppler Echocardiographic Prediction of Pulmonary Hypertension in West Highland White Terriers with Chronic Pulmonary Disease
Author(s) -
Schober Karsten E.,
Baade Hanno
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of veterinary internal medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.356
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1939-1676
pISSN - 0891-6640
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2006.tb01805.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pulmonary hypertension , cardiology , pulmonary artery , regurgitation (circulation) , confidence interval , doppler echocardiography , ejection fraction , blood pressure , diastole , heart failure
Background : Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is commonly diagnosed by Doppler echocardiography (DE) of tricuspid regurgitation (TR). However, TR may be absent or difficult to measure. Hypothesis : Doppler‐derived systolic time intervals of pulmonary artery (PA) flow may be used to predict PH in dogs. Animals : Seventy‐three healthy dogs and 45 West Highland white terriers (WHWT) with interstitial pulmonary disease (IPD). Methods : Echocardiographic studies, including determination of right ventricular acceleration time (AT), ejection time (ET), and AT:ET ratio; right ventricular shortening fraction (RV‐SF); and TR velocity, were performed. Pulmonary hypertension was defined by TR > 3.1 m/s. Results : In healthy WHWT, AT (median, range) was 73 ms (53 to 104) and AT:ET was 0.40 (0.28 to 0.55). AT:ET was minimally affected by age ( R 2 = 0.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01–0.07, P < .001) but not by heart rate, body weight, or RV‐SF. In all WHWT with TR, AT and AT: ET were inversely related to calculated systolic PA pressure ( R 2 = 0.52, 95% CI 0.42–0.62, P < .001 and R 2 = 0.36, 95% CI 0.29–0.42, P = .001). Clinical cutoffs to predict systolic PH were defined for AT (58 ms; sensitivity [Se] 88% and specificity [Sp] 80%) and AT:ET (0.31; Se 73% and Sp 87%). Conclusion and Clinical Importance : PH is common in WHWT with IPD. Analysis of right ventricular AT and AT: ET may be predictive of PH and should be particularly useful if TR is absent.