P1789 Stress echocardiography in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension - a pilot study

Abstract

Abstract INTRODUCTION Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, progressive disease with poor prognosis. Stress echocardiography (SE) gives an important data on hemodynamic response to exercise. In patients with PAH SE may be useful for the diagnosis and risk assessment but data are lacking. AIM OF STUDY The aim of the study was to analyze exercise-induced response of right heart function and pulmonary artery pressure in patients with PAH. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study group consisted of 15 hemodynamically stable patients, 9 women, aged 22-73 (median- 50), diagnosed with PAH treated at Cardiology Department. The patients were subjected to stress echocardiography on supine cycloergometer and underwent assessment before and at peak-exercise. Moreover the standard parameters of clinical assessment: NT-proBNP, WHO functional class, and 6-minute walk test were analyzed. RESULTS Nine patients were in WHO class III, 4 of them- WHO class II and 2- WHO class I. The median NT-proBNP concentration was 169.3 (IQR 151.2-989.5) pg/ml. 6-Minute Walk Test distance was 455 (428-489) meters. The median workload was 75 (IQR 50-100) Watts and it was the median 54% (IQR 37-62%) of predicted. The echocardiographic parameters assessed in SE at rest and shortly after peak-exercise revealed that RV systolic volume did not significantly differ: 70 (49.8-112.3) vs 71.5 (36.6-110) ml, p = 0.3. Right atrial area decreased from median 21.9 (17.4-27.3) to 19.8 (16.4-22.1) cm2, p = 0.05, whereas right atrial volume did not significantly changed - 80 (47.5-99.5) vs 68 (47.3-78.8) ml, p = 0.13. Further, shortly after exercise tricuspid regurgitation peak gradient (TRPG) significantly increased - 43 (25-76.5) vs 71 (50.5-102) mmHg, p = 0.002. CONCLUSIONS In stable PAH patients supine SE is feasible. Even in advanced WHO functional classes patients were able to exercise. Among echocardiographic parameters TRPG reflecting systolic pulmonary artery pressure showed the biggest difference between baseline and peak-exercise values. SE and seems to be a valuable tool in PAH patients’ assessment.