RV Fractional Area Change and TAPSE as Predictors of Severe Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Pulmonary Hypertension: A CMR Study.

BACKGROUND: The right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) is a surrogate marker of right ventricular function in pulmonary hypertension (PH), but its measurement is complicated and time consuming. The tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) measures only the longitudinal component of RV contraction while the right ventricular fractional area change (RVFAC) takes into account both the longitudinal and the transversal components. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between RVEF, RVFAC, and TAPSE according to hemodynamic severity in two groups of patients with PH: pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty-four patients with PAH (n = 15) and CTEPH (n = 39) underwent right heart catheterization and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). The ventricular volumes and areas, TAPSE, and eccentricity index were measured. The RVFAC was more strongly correlated with the RVEF (r = 0.81, p < 0.0001) than the TAPSE (r = 0.63, p < 0.0001). RVEF < 35% was better predicted by the RVFAC than the TAPSE (TAPSE: AUC = 0.77 and RVFAC: AUC = 0.91; p = 0.042). In the group with the worse hemodynamic status, the RVFAC correlated much better with the RVEF than the TAPSE. There were no significant differences in the CMR data analyzed between the groups of PAH and CETPH patients. CONCLUSIONS: The RVFAC is a good index to estimate RVEF in PH patients; even better than the TAPSE in patients with more severe hemodynamic profile, possibly for including the transversal component of right ventricular function in its measurement. Furthermore, RVFAC performance was similar in the two PH groups (PAH and CTEPH).

Strong linear relationship between heart rate and mean pulmonary artery pressure in exercising patients with severe precapillary pulmonary hypertension.

The contribution of heart rate (HR) to pulmonary artery hemodynamics has been suggested in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Our high-fidelity pressure, retrospective study tested the hypothesis that HR explained the majority of mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and pulse pressure (PApp) variation in 12 severe precapillary PH patients who performed incremental-load cycling while in the supine position. Seven idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension patients and five chronic thromboembolic PH patients were studied. Four to five PAP-thermodilution cardiac output (CO) points (mean: 4.4) were obtained. At rest, mPAP was 57 ± 9 mmHg, PApp was 51 ± 11 mmHg, HR was 90 ± 12 beats/min, and stroke volume (SV) was 50 ± 22 ml. At peak exercise, mPAP was 76 ± 10 mmHg, PApp was 67 ± 11 mmHg, and HR was 123 ± 18 beats/min (i.e., 71 ± 10% of maximum HR, each P < 0.05), whereas SV was 51 ± 20 ml (P = not significant). The input resistance did not change (mPAP/CO = 14.1 ± 4.1 vs. 13.5 ± 4.4 mmHg·min·l(-1)). The relative increase in mPAP was related to the relative increase in HR (n = 12, r(2) = 0.74) but not in CO. mPAP was linearly related to CO in 8 of 12 patients (median r(2) = 0.83) and to HR in 12 of 12 patients (median r(2) = 0.985). The parsimony principle favored the latter fit. PApp was linearly related to mPAP in 12 of 12 patients (median r(2) = 0.985), HR in 10 of 12 patients (median r(2) = 0.97), CO in 7 of 12 patients (median r(2) = 0.87), and SV in 1 of 12 patients. A strong linear relationship between HR and mPAP was consistently documented in severe precapillary PH patients who performed supine exercise. The limited value of thermodilution CO to predict mPAP could be explained by unavoidable precision errors in CO measurements, unchanged/decreased SV on exercise, curvilinearity of the mPAP-CO relationship at high flow, or flow-independent additional mechanisms increasing mPAP on exercise.

Challenging a classic myth: pneumoperitoneum associated with acute diverticulitis is not an indication for open or laparoscopic emergency surgery in hemodynamically stable patients. A 10-year experience with a nonoperative treatment.

BACKGROUND: In patients presenting with acute diverticulitis (AD) and signs of acute peritonitis, the presence of extradigestive air (EDA) on a computer tomography (CT) scan is often considered to indicate the need for emergency surgery. Although the traditional management of "perforated" AD is open sigmoidectomy, more recently, laparoscopic drainage/lavage (usually followed by delayed elective sigmoidectomy) has been reported. The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the results of nonoperative management of emergency patients presenting with AD and EDA. METHODS: The outcomes of 39 consecutive hemodynamically stable patients (23 men, mean age = 54.7 years) who were admitted with AD and EDA and were managed nonoperatively (antibiotic and supportive treatment) at a tertiary-care university hospital between January 2001 and June 2010 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. These included morbidity (Clavien-Dindo) and treatment failure (need for emergency surgery or death). A univariate analysis of clinical, radiological, and laboratory criteria with respect to treatment failure was performed. Results of delayed elective laparoscopic sigmoidectomy were also analyzed. RESULTS: There was no mortality. Thirty-six of the 39 patients (92.3%) did not need surgery (7 patients required CT-guided abscess drainage). Mean hospital stay was 8.1 days. Duration of symptoms, previous antibiotic administration, severe sepsis, PCR level, WBC concentration, and the presence of abdominal collection were associated with treatment failure, whereas "distant" location of EDA and free abdominal fluid were not. Five patients had recurrence of AD and were treated medically. Seventeen patients (47.2%) underwent elective laparoscopic sigmoidectomy for which mean operative time was 246 min (range = 100-450) and the conversion rate was 11.8%. Mortality was nil and the morbidity rate was 41.2%. Mean postoperative stay was 7.1 days (range = 4-23). CONCLUSIONS: Nonoperative management is a viable option in most emergency patients presenting with AD and EDA, even in the presence of symptoms of peritonitis or altered laboratory tests. Delayed laparoscopic sigmoidectomy may be useless in certain cases and its results poorer than expected.

Usefulness of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Indices to Rule In or Rule Out Precapillary Pulmonary Hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Various cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging indices are used to assess pulmonary hypertension (PH; mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥ 25 mm Hg). We compared the value of CMR indices to diagnose precapillary PH in treatment-naive patients evaluated for the first time for known or suspected pulmonary vascular disease. METHODS: Right heart catheterization and CMR were performed within 48 hours of each other in 85 consecutive subjects. The tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, right ventricular (RV) fractional area change (RVFAC), RV ejection fraction, systolic eccentricity index, and RV end-diastolic area over left ventricular end-diastolic area ratio were calculated. The pulmonary artery trunk diameter, main pulmonary artery relative area change, and mean flow velocity were also calculated. RESULTS: There were 20 non-PH subjects (14 women/6 men, 55 ± 14 years of age, mean pulmonary artery pressure [mPAP] = 20 ± 4 mm Hg) and 65 precapillary PH subjects (32 women/33 men, 60 ± 15 years of age; P = not significant; mPAP = 46 ± 12 mm Hg; 54% with chronic thromboembolic PH). All CMR indices showed essentially the same (good) value to rule in precapillary PH. The RV end-diastolic area over left ventricular end-diastolic area ratio and RVFAC, which are relatively easy to measure, had a large area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.93, with optimal cut-off > 0.96, and 0.92, with optimal cut-off ≤ 35%, respectively), not significantly different from RV ejection fraction. In addition, RVFAC > 45% was documented in none of 65 PH and in 10 of 20 non-PH; thus, in a population similar to ours, RVFAC measurement could potentially have avoided unnecessary catheterization in 50% of non-PH subjects. CONCLUSIONS: In treatment-naive subjects in whom pulmonary vascular disease is highly suspected, right-sided CMR indices distinguish between PH and non-PH patients. RVFAC might have particular value in excluding precapillary PH.

Estimating right ventricular stroke work and the pulsatile work fraction in pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND: The mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) replaces mean systolic ejection pressure (msePAP) in the classic formula of right ventricular stroke work (RVSW) = (mPAP - RAP) × stroke volume, where RAP is mean right atrial pressure. Only the steady work is thus taken into account, not the pulsatile work, whereas pulmonary circulation is highly pulsatile. Our retrospective, high-fidelity pressure study tested the hypothesis that msePAP was proportional to mPAP, and looked at the implications for RVSW. METHODS: Eleven patients with severe, precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) (six patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension and five with chronic thromboembolic PH; mPAP = 57 ± 10 mm Hg) were studied at rest and during mild to moderate exercise. Eight non-PH control subjects were also studied at rest (mPAP = 16 ± 2 mm Hg). The msePAP was averaged from end diastole to dicrotic notch. RESULTS: In the full data set (53 pressure-flow points), mPAP ranged from 14 to 99.5 mm Hg, cardiac output from 2.38 to 11.1 L/min, and heart rate from 53 to 163 beats/min. There was a linear relationship between msePAP and mPAP (r² = 0.99). The msePAP matched 1.25 mPAP (bias, -0.5 ± 2.6 mm Hg). Results were similar in the resting non-PH group and in resting and the exercising PH group. This implies that the classic formula markedly underestimates RVSW and that the pulsatile work may be a variable 20% to 55% fraction of RVSW, depending on RAP and mPAP. At rest, RVSW in patients with PH was twice as high as that of the non-PH group (P < .05), but pulsatile work fraction was similar between the two groups (26 ± 4% vs 24 ± 1%) because of the counterbalancing effects of high RAP (11 ± 5 mm Hg vs 4 ± 2 mm Hg), which increases the fraction, and high mPAP, which decreases the fraction. CONCLUSIONS: Our study favored the use of an improved formula that takes into account the variable pulsatile work fraction: RVSW = (1.25 mPAP - RAP) × stroke volume. Increased RAP and increased mPAP have opposite effects on the pulsatile work fraction.

[Magnetic resonance imaging and pulmonary hypertension: towards an improved evaluation of right heart and pulmonary circulation]. / Imagerie par résonance magnétique et hypertension artérielle pulmonaire: vers une meilleure exploration du coeur droit et de la circulation pulmonaire.

In patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH), right ventricular (RV) function carries prognostic implications and this explains why RV function must be systematically evaluated at baseline and during follow-up. Cardiac Magnetic Resonance imaging (CMR) is nowadays considered the gold standard technique for non-invasively evaluating RV morphology and function. Pulmonary hemodynamics may be also successfully studied by CMR.The severity and prognosis of PH are related to a number of CMR-derived cardiac and pulmonary artery variables. The main CMR-derived cardiac variables related to the severity and prognosis of PH are a lowered RV ejection fraction, paradoxical septal motion and decreased left ventricular dimension relative to RV. The main CMR-derived pulmonary artery variables related to the severity and prognosis of PH are a decreased compliance and decreased mean fl ow velocity. CMR plays a key role in the non-invasive evaluation of RV function and pulmonary hemodynamics of PH patients. It is likely that CMR will improve the rationale evaluation and survey of these patients in the near future.

Hemoperitoneum caused by a ruptured GIST located in the posterior gastric wall managed by endoscopic diagnosis and laparoscopic treatment: case report and literature review.

A case of hemoperitoneum caused by a ruptured gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the posterior gastric wall is presented. An otherwise healthy 81-year-old man presented with abdominal pain/tenderness and anemia (hemoglobin: 7.4 g/dL). Computed tomography scan showed hemoperitoneum and a gastric mass of uncertain nature. As the patient was hemodynamically stable, a mini-invasive approach was decided. Esophagogastroscopy revealed an umbilicated mass of the posterior gastric wall, therefore allowing for a correct preoperative diagnosis of GIST and its appropriate treatment by laparoscopic atypical gastrectomy. Laparoscopically, a longitudinal resection of gastric fundus including the tumor was performed in a sleeve gastrectomy fashion, 25 minutes after the induction of pneumoperitoneum. The outcome was uneventful. Pathologic examination confirmed a benign 4 × 3-cm gastric GIST with <1 mitosis per 50 high power field, staining positive for CD117 (C-KIT) and negative for S-100 protein and smooth muscle actin. To our knowledge, it is the first case of a successful laparoscopic resection of an endoscopically diagnosed gastric GIST in an emergency setting. Hemoperitoneum is a rare, potentially severe complication of GIST. As bleeding is rarely severe, most patients may benefit from a mini-invasive approach, even if the tumor is located in the posterior gastric wall.

Multidetector CT scan findings of a right aberrant retroesophageal vertebral artery with an anomalous origin from a cervical aortic arch.

Various malformations of the aortic arch and great vessels have been reported in the literature, which reflects the complexity of their embryologic development. Most of them are of incidental finding and remain asymptomatic but can be responsible for respiratory or digestive symptoms and be associated with congenital cardiac diseases. We report the case of a patient presenting a right retroesophageal vertebral artery. This malformation was associated with multiple anomalies of the aortic arch. We report a classification of the most common aortic arch abnormalities by recalling Edwards double aortic arch model and embryologic variants. Here, we report on the rare case of a right retroesophageal vertebral artery. We assimilate this malformation to a vertebral arteria lusoria and attribute it to the lack of caudal migration of the fourth branchial arch, responsible for a left cervical aortic arch with an interruption between the right subclavian and vertebral arteries.