Abstract 17141: Pulmonary Artery Pulsatility Index is Associated With Greater Mortality Across a Broad Hospital-Based Cohort

Abstract

Introduction: The pulmonary artery pulsatility index (PAPi), calculated from the ratio of pulmonary artery pulse pressure to right atrial pressure, was initially described as a novel predictor of right ventricular failure after inferior myocardial infarction or left ventricular assist device implantation. Whether PAPi is associated with adverse outcomes in broader samples is unknown. Hypothesis: A lower PAPi is associated with mortality in a broad population referred for right heart catheterization. Methods: We examined consecutive patients undergoing right heart catheterization between 2005-2016 in a hospital-based cohort. The following exclusion criteria were applied: shock or cardiac arrest within 24 hours of catheterization, presence of mechanical circulatory support, prior cardiac transplant, prior valvular surgery, or those with missing key clinical covariates. Multivariable Cox models were utilized to examine the association between PAPi and mortality. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, prior myocardial infarction, and prior heart failure. Results: We studied 8559 patients with mean age 63 years and 40% women. We found that patients in the lowest quartile of PAPi were younger, with greater proportion of men, and higher BMI, yet similar NT-proBNP compared with other quartiles ( Table 1 ). Over 12.5 years of follow-up, there were 2441 death events. Patients in the lowest PAPi quartile had a 31% greater risk of death compared with the highest quartile (multivariable adjusted HR 1.31, 95% CI 1.15-1.48, p<0.001), whereas no differences in survival were seen among individuals in quartile 2 or 3 (p>0.05 vs quartile 4 for both). Conclusions: Patients in the lowest PAPi quartile had a 31% increased risk of all-cause mortality in a broad population referred for right heart catheterization. These findings highlight a potential role for PAPi in identifying high-risk individuals across a spectrum of disease.