Utility of phase contrast MR imaging for assessment of pulmonary flow and pressure estimation in patients with pulmonary hypertension: comparison with right heart catheterization and echocardiography.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the utility of phase contrast MR imaging (PC-MRI) for assessment of pulmonary flow and pressure estimation with that of right heart catheterization and echocardiography (cardiac US) in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).


METHODS
Twenty consecutive patients with suspected PAH underwent PC-MRI, cardiac US, and right heart catheterization. In each patient, PC-MRI was acquired by cine 2D-PC method on a 1.5 Tesla scanner, and stroke volume (SV) and pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP) were assessed by using the modified Bernoulli's equation. To evaluate the agreements of SV and PASP among the three methods, correlations and limits of agreement among the three methods were statistically assessed by using the Bland-Altman's analyses.


RESULTS
The correlations and limits of agreement for SV and PASP between PC-MRI and catheterization (r = 0.96, r(2) = 0.94, 1.1 +/- 6.9 mL and r = 0.94, r(2) = 0.88, -3.2 +/- 14.5 mmHg, respectively) were better than between cardiac US and catheterization (r = 0.01, r(2) < 0.01, 8.9 +/- 42.1 mL and r = 0.86, r(2) = 0.72, -5.9 +/- 27.7 mmHg, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
PC-MRI is more compatible with right heart catheterization than cardiac US in pulmonary flow and pressure estimation.
Department of Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
Munenobu
M
Nogami
Yoshiharu
Y
Ohno
Hisanobu
H
Koyama
Atsushi
A
Kono
Daisuke
D
Takenaka
Toshiya
T
Kataoka
Hiroya
H
Kawai
Hideaki
H
Kawamitsu
Yumiko
Y
Onishi
Keiko
K
Matsumoto
Sumiaki
S
Matsumoto
Kazuro
K
Sugimura
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000379:methods*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011312:Pressure; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods