Novel evaluation of pulmonary hypertension associated with chronic lung disease using perfusion SPECT/CT: A pilot...

In pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with chronic lung disease (CLD), identifying patients who would benefit from pulmonary vasodilators is a significant clinical challenge because the presence of PH is associated with poorer survival. This study evaluated the severity of pulmonary circulation impairment in patients with CLD-PH using pulmonary perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT). This single-center, observational study enrolled patients with CLD-PH who had a mean pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) ≥ 25 mmHg, as confirmed by right heart catheterization. The primary outcome was to measure the percentage of pulmonary perfusion defect (%PPD), calculated by dividing the perfusion defect volume from perfusion SPECT images by the lung volume from CT scan images. The secondary outcome was to assess the correlation between %PPD and baseline characteristics. The median %PPD was 52.4% (interquartile range, 42.5%-72.3%) in 22 patients. In multivariate linear regression analysis, both forced vital capacity (β = 0.58, p = 0.008) and mean PAP (β = 0.68, p = 0.001) were significantly correlated with %PPD. In conclusion, significant correlation between mean PAP and %PPD in patients with CLD-PH was observed. This noninvasive assessment of %PPD may be useful for evaluating the severity of pulmonary circulation impairment in CLD-PH.