Reliability of standard apexcardiography for the measurement of sudden variations in mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure.
We simultaneously registered the left apexcardiogram together with the left intraventricular pressure curve immediately before and after ventricular angiography in order to evaluate whether the relation existing between apexcardiographic protodiastolic filling period duration (cR interval) and left ventricular mean diastolic pressure (LVMDP) was maintained even in the presence of sudden variations of LVMDP. Administration of contrast media resulted in a significant increase of LVMDP (from 11.8 to 23.9 mm Hg) and in a simultaneous decrease of the cR interval (from 108.5 to 71.0 msec) and noninvasive LVMDP calculated as 36-0.24* cR closely correlated with the invasive values both before and after angiography (overall correlation r = 0.94). Apexcardiography thus confirms to be the only highly reliable noninvasive technique which can be used by the clinical cardiologist to measure LVMDP and/or mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure.
Onofri
M
M
Division of Cardiology, Ospedale di Circolo, Varese, Italy.
Verna
E
E
Ghiringhelli
S
S
Repetto
S
S
Binaghi
G
G
Mortarino
G
G
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007702:Kinetocardiography; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011669:Pulmonary Wedge Pressure; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology