Echocardiographic Screening Methods for Pulmonary Hypertension: A Practical Review

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Pulmonary Medicine
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is defined by elevated mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) ≥ 25 mmHg.
• Right ventricular (RV) hemodynamics are critical for PH patient outcomes and treatment strategies.
• Current gold standard for RV hemodynamics, right heart catheterization (RHC), is invasive and not suitable for routine screening or monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review practical echocardiographic methods for approximating RV hemodynamics in PH.
• To highlight the increasing importance of echocardiography in PH management.
• To provide clinicians with non-invasive tools for assessing RV function in PH.

Main Methods:

• Review of current literature on echocardiographic techniques for RV hemodynamic assessment.
• Focus on practical, non-invasive echocardiographic parameters relevant to PH.
• Comparison of echocardiographic estimations with RHC data where applicable.

Main Results:

• Echocardiography can provide valuable estimations of key hemodynamic parameters.
• Specific echocardiographic views and measurements can approximate RV pressures and function.
• These non-invasive methods are crucial for screening and monitoring PH patients.

Conclusions:

• Echocardiography is an increasingly vital tool for evaluating RV hemodynamics in PH.
• Non-invasive echocardiographic assessment can guide clinical decisions and improve patient monitoring.
• Further research into advanced echocardiographic techniques for PH is warranted.