Echocardiographic detection of transpulmonary bubble transit during acute respiratory distress syndrome

Transpulmonary bubble transit (TPBT) detected with contrast echocardiography is reported as a sign of intrapulmonary shunt during cirrhosis or exercise in healthy humans. However, its physiological meaning is not clear during acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Our aim was to determine the prevalence, significance, and prognosis of TPBT detection during ARDS.

This was a prospective observational study in an academic medical intensive care unit in France. Two hundred and sixteen consecutive patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS underwent transesophageal echocardiography with modified gelatine contrast. Moderate-to-large TPBT was defined as right-to-left passage of at least ten bubbles through a pulmonary vein more than three cardiac cycles after complete opacification of the right atrium. Patients with intra-cardiac shunt through patent foramen ovale were excluded.

The prevalence of moderate-to-large TPBT was 26% (including 42 patients with moderate and 15 with large TPBT). Patients with moderate-to-large TPBT had higher values of cardiac index and heart rate as compared to those without TPBT. There was no significant difference in PaO2/FIO2 ratio between groups, and TPBT was not influenced by end-expiratory positive pressure level in 93% of tested patients. Prevalence of septic shock was higher in the group with moderate-to-large TPBT. Patients with moderate-to-large TPBT had fewer ventilator-free days and intensive care unit-free days within the first 28 days, and higher in-hospital mortality as compared to others.

Moderate-to-large TPBT was detected with contrast echocardiography in 26% of patients with ARDS. This finding was associated with a hyperdynamic and septic state, but did not influence oxygenation.