Pulmonary artery pressure estimated by Doppler echocardiography in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Doppler echocardiography and right heart catheterization were performed in 18 patients with COPD. The pulmonary blood flow pattern were analysed by the pulsed doppler flowmeter. The pulmonary artery acceleration time (PAT) showed significant inverse correlation with pulmonary artery mean pressure (mPAP) (r = -0.84, P less than 0.001) and pulmonary artery systolic pressure (sPAP) (r = -0.89, P less than 0.001). In fifteen of 18 patients, continuous wave doppler could be used to measure the maximal velocity of the regurgitant jet through the tricuspid valve (Vmax), and the right ventricle to the right atrium pressure gradient (PG) was calculated by means of simplified bernoulli equation (PG = 4V2max). PG correlated well with sPAP (r = 0.89, P less than 0.001) and mPAP (r = 0.92, P less than 0.001). We considered that doppler echocardiography was useful for noninvasive estimation of pulmonary artery pressure in patients with COPD.