Usefulness of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure as a correlate of left ventricular filling pressures in pulmonary arterial hypertension

作者：de Oliveira Rudolf K F; Ferreira Eloara V M; Ramos Roberta P; Messina Carolina M S; Kapins Carlos E B; Silva Celia M C; Ota Arakaki Jaquelina S^*

来源：Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, 2014, 33(2): 157-162.

DOI：10.1016/j.healun.2013.10.008

• pulmonary arterial hypertension
• right heart catheterization
• pulmonary capillary wedge pressure
• left ventricular end-diastolic pressure
• left ventricular filling pressure

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is characterized by a pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) of <= 15 mm Hg, given a normal left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP). However, recent studies have shown that, in PAH patients, diagnosis based on PCWP can erroneously classify a significant number of patients compared with diagnosis based on left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP). Therefore, we sought to compare the diagnostic accuracy of end-expiratory PCWP and LVEDP measurements in patients suspected of having pulmonary hypertension (PH).
METHODS: We reviewed the hemodynamic data from 122 patients suspected of having PH who underwent simultaneous right- and left-side heart catheterizations at a PH referral center from 2006 to 2011.
RESULTS: PH was diagnosed in 105 patients, 79% of whom (n = 83) showed a pre-capillary pattern according to the LVEDP measurement. Ninety percent of patients with PCWP <= 15 mm Hg were correctly classified as having pre-capillary PH. However, 39% of patients with a PCWP > 15 mm Hg had LVEDP <= 15 mm Hg and would have been erroneously diagnosed with pulmonary venous hypertension based on their PCWP measurements alone. The sensitivity and specificity was 0.89 and 0.64, respectively. A Bland-Altman analysis of the PCWP and LVEDP measurements revealed a mean bias of 0.3 mm Hg with 95% limits of agreement of -7.2 to 7.8 mm Hg.
CONCLUSIONS: A PCWP <= 15 mm Hg was found to be a reliable indicator of normal LVFP in precapillary PH patients. When measured properly and analyzed in the clinical context, PCWP is a valuable tool for accurate diagnosis of PAH.

• 出版日期2014-2