Study of effects of the thoracic pressure on the velocity of tricuspid regurgitation and estimation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effects and the mechanism of the thoracic pressure variation on the velocity of tricuspid regurgitation in quiet respiration, to accurately estimate the pulmonary artery systolic pressure,and to verify the new proposed mechanism of respiration effects on hemodynamics using echocardiography. Methods Continuous-wave Doppler spectra of tricuspid regurgitation were recorded with Sequoia 512 in 50 patients who had stable tricuspid regurgitation. Electrocardiogram and respiratory tracing were recorded simultaneously. The velocities and the pressure gradients were recorded during different respiration phases for analyzing. Results Respiration reliably affected on tricuspid regurgitant velocity. There were three patterns of manifestation①The velocity increased in the inspiratory phase. ②The velocity decreased in the inspiratory phase. ③The velocity changed randomly. Conclusions Thoracic pressure variations had definite effects on the velocity of tricuspid regurgitation and tricuspid gradient. This research indicated that to obtain accurate and reliable Doppler echocardiographic measurement of the pulmonary artery systolic pressure, the measurement should be at the time between inspiration and expiration.