Pulmonary blood volume indexed to lung volume is reduced in newly diagnosed systemic sclerosis compared to normals--a prospective clinical cardiovascular magnetic resonance study addressing pulmonary vascular changes.
BACKGROUND
Pulmonary involvement, manifested as pulmonary arterial hypertension or pulmonary fibrosis, is the most common cause of death in systemic sclerosis (SSc). We aimed to explore the feasibility of detecting early pulmonary involvement in SSc using recently developed non-invasive quantitative measures of pulmonary physiology using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR).


METHODS
Twenty-seven SSc patients (9 men, 57 ± 13 years) and 10 healthy controls (3 men, 54 ± 9 years) underwent CMR to determine the pulmonary blood volume (PBV) and the PBV variation (PBVV) throughout the cardiac cycle. Patients underwent Doppler echocardiography, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), and pulmonary function testing by spirometry. Comparisons were performed using the unpaired t-test and linear regression analysis was performed with Pearson's correlation coefficient (r).


RESULTS
Compared to healthy controls, the PBV indexed to lung volume (PBVI) was lower in patients (16 ± 4 vs 20 ± 5%, p < 0.05). There was no difference in PBV (466 ± 87 vs 471 ± 122 mL, p = 0.91) or PBVV/stroke volume (45 ± 10 vs 40 ± 6%, p = 0.09). There were no significant correlations between PBVI and pulmonary artery pressure estimated by Doppler (p = 0.08) the lung's diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (p = 0.09), vital capacity (p = 0.45), or pulmonary fibrosis by HRCT (p = 0.74).


CONCLUSIONS
This study is the first to measure the PBV in humans using CMR. Compared to healthy controls, newly diagnosed SSc patients have a reduced amount of blood in the pulmonary vasculature (PBVI) but unchanged pulmonary vascular distensibility (PBVV/stroke volume). PBVI is unrelated to DLCO, pulmonary artery pressure, vital capacity, and the presence of pulmonary fibrosis. PBVI may be a novel parameter reflecting vascular lung involvement in early-stage SSc, and these findings may be consistent with pathophysiological changes of the pulmonary vasculature.
Department of Clinical Physiology, Lund University and Lund University Hospital, Lund, SE-221 85 Lund, Sweden. martin@ugander.com.
Mikael
M
Kanski
Håkan
H
Arheden
Dirk M
DM
Wuttge
Gracijela
G
Bozovic
Roger
R
Hesselstrand
Martin
M
Ugander
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D062186:Arterial Pressure; D001810:Blood Volume; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D065627:Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016014:Linear Models; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D011653:Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications*; D013147:Spirometry; D013318:Stroke Volume; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014797:Vital Capacity