ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: It is unknown whether the echocardiographic changes observed after treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension have prognostic value. METHODS: Subjects with pulmonary arterial hypertension, confirmed by right heart catheterization, who underwent Doppler echocardiography before (baseline) and after 1 year of treatment (follow-up) with parenteral prostacyclin analogues were retrospectively identified. Echocardiographic parameters were measured offline by two investigators. RESULTS: A total of 48 patients were included (mean age, 45 ± 14 years; 83% women). Compared with baseline, follow-up echocardiography showed reductions in right atrial area (mean percentage change, 12 ± 25%; P < .001), right ventricular (RV) basal and middle cavity dimensions (mean percentage change, 8.5 ± 14% [P < .001] and 6.8 ± 17% [P = .005], respectively), and peak tricuspid regurgitant velocity (mean percentage change, 10 ± 14%; P < .001). Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (mean percentage change, 36 ± 43%; P < .001) and RV outflow tract time-velocity integral (mean percentage change, 48 ± 66%; P < .001) increased. During a median follow-up period of 52.5 months (interquartile range, 20.5-80 months), 18 patients (37.5%) died, mostly (n = 15 [83%]) from progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The changes in RV end-diastolic area (hazard ratio [HR per 10% decrease, 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.57-0.93), tricuspid valve regurgitation velocity (HR per 10 cm/sec decrease, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.37-0.89), RV outflow tract velocity-time integral (HR per 10% increase, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.83-0.98), and subjective RV function (HR per 1 unit of improvement [e.g., from moderate to mild], 0.55; 95% CI, 0.31-0.96) were associated with overall mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Echocardiographic parameters that estimate RV systolic pressure and assess RV morphology and function improve after 1 year of prostacyclin analogue treatment, and the degree of change has prognostic implications.
