title: Automated morphologic evaluation of pulmonary arteries in primary pulmonary hypertension.
abstract: Pulmonary wedge angiograms have been shown to reflect the severity of pulmonary vascular disease in congenital heart disease. Thirteen pulmonary wedge angiograms with a balloon occlusion catheter were performed in 11 adult patients (five normals and six with primary pulmonary hypertension [PPH]) and their features related to the resting pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). Individual cine frames from each study were selected and digitized with a computer-assisted operator-interactive program. By fitting densitometric profiles from the vessel segments, serial arterial cross-sectional diameters were calculated from mathematically derived points. There was a strong correlation between arterial taper (T, change in vessel caliber per unit axial length) and a power function of mean PAP with T = 0.304 X PAP-0.59, R = .91, P less than .001. These results demonstrate a correlation between an angiographically derived morphologic characteristic of the pulmonary vasculature (taper) and a hemodynamic parameter (PAP) in PPH. This offers a method to follow the course of the disease and the effects of drug therapy by assessing anatomic changes in the vessels.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011669:Pulmonary Wedge Pressure; D011859:Radiography; D012044:Regression Analysis