Pulmonary Vascular Resistance Index (pulmonary + vascular_resistance_index)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Survival in pulmonary hypertension associated with the scleroderma spectrum of diseases: Impact of interstitial lung disease

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 2 2009
Stephen C. Mathai
Objective Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important cause of mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc), where it can be isolated (pulmonary arterial hypertension [PAH]) or associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). This study was undertaken to characterize determinants of survival among SSc patients with either type of PH who received PAH-specific therapy. Methods Consecutive SSc patients with PAH or ILD-associated PH confirmed by right heart catheterization were included in the study. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare survival between SSc patients with PAH and those with ILD-associated PH and to identify predictors of survival. Results Fifty-nine patients (39 with PAH and 20 with ILD-associated PH) were identified. The majority (15 of 20 with ILD-associated PH and 27 of 39 with PAH) received an endothelin receptor antagonist as initial therapy. Median followup time was 4.4 years (range 2.7,7.4 years). Survival was significantly worse in SSc patients with ILD-associated PH than in those with PAH (1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates 82%, 46%, and 39% versus 87%, 79%, and 64%, respectively; P < 0.01 by log rank test). In a multivariable analysis, ILD-associated PH was associated with a 5-fold increase in risk of death compared with PAH. Pulmonary vascular resistance index was also an independent predictor of mortality in the overall cohort (hazard ratio 1.05, P < 0.01) and was a significant univariable risk factor in each group separately. Type of initial PAH therapy and the use of warfarin were not related to survival. Conclusion Survival in SSc complicated by PH remains poor despite currently available treatment options. While therapy may be associated with improved survival in PAH compared with historical controls, the prognosis for patients with ILD-associated PH is particularly grim. Early diagnosis and treatment may improve outcomes since worsening hemodynamic factors were associated with reduced survival. [source]


Thrombin generation during reperfusion after coronary artery bypass surgery associates with postoperative myocardial damage

JOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS, Issue 7 2006
P. RAIVIO
Summary.,Background: Cardiopulmonary bypass and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) result in significant thrombin generation and activation of fibrinolysis. Thrombin contributes to myocardial ischemia,reperfusion injury in animal studies, but the role of thrombin in myocardial damage after CABG is unknown. Objectives: We measured thrombin generation and fibrin turnover during reperfusion after CABG to evaluate their associations with postoperative hemodynamic changes and myocardial damage. Methods: One hundred patients undergoing primary, elective, on-pump CABG were prospectively enrolled. Plasma prothrombin fragment F1+2 and D-dimer were measured preoperatively and at seven time points thereafter. Mass of the Mb fraction of creatine kinase (Ck-Mbm) and troponin T (TnT) were measured on the first postoperative day. Results: Reperfusion induced an escalation of thrombin generation and fibrin turnover despite full heparinization. F1+2 during early reperfusion associated with postoperative pulmonary vascular resistance index. F1+2 at 6 h after protamine administration correlated with Ck-Mbm (r = 0.40, P < 0.001) and TnT (r = 0.44, P < 0.001) at 18 h postoperatively. Patients with evidence of myocardial damage (highest quintiles of plasma Ck-Mbm and TnT) had significantly higher F1+2 during reperfusion than others (P < 0.002). Logistic regression models identified F1+2 during reperfusion to independently associate with postoperative myocardial damage (odds ratios 2.5,4.4, 95% confidence intervals 1.04,15.7). Conclusions: Reperfusion caused a burst in thrombin generation and fibrin turnover despite generous heparinization. Thrombin generation during reperfusion after CABG associated with pulmonary vascular resistance and postoperative myocardial damage. [source]


Hypercapnic acidosis and compensated hypercapnia in control and pulmonary hypertensive piglets,

PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY, Issue 2 2003
K. Jane Lee MD
Abstract Low tidal volume/inspiratory pressure ventilator strategies result in hypercapnia, which has been shown to increase pulmonary vasomotor tone. This may be particularly detrimental in infants and children with preexistent pulmonary hypertension. In this study, a piglet model of chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension was used to test the hypotheses that: 1) the effects of hypercapnic acidosis are exaggerated by preexistent pulmonary hypertension; and 2) the pulmonary hemodynamic effects of hypercapnic acidosis are attenuated by normalizing pH. Pulmonary hypertension was induced by 2 weeks of hypoxia. Hemodynamic responses were measured in control and pulmonary hypertensive piglets during both normoxia and hypoxia under normocapnic, hypercapnic acidotic, and compensated hypercapnic conditions. We found that: 1) hypercapnic acidosis increased both normoxic and hypoxic pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI) in control piglets; 2) the pressor effects of hypercapnia were not attenuated by infusing bicarbonate to normalize the pH; and 3) piglets with chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension had elevated baseline normoxic and hypoxic PVRI, but responded to hypercapnic acidosis and compensated hypercapnia in a similar way to control piglets. These data suggest that acute hypercapnic acidosis may have deleterious effects on the pulmonary hemodynamics of normal and pulmonary hypertensive subjects which may not be acutely reversed by buffering the pH. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2003; 36:94,101. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Effect of a Miniaturized Cardiopulmonary Bypass System on the Inflammatory Response and Cardiac Function in Neonatal Piglets

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 11 2009
Ko Yoshizumi
Abstract The cognitive impairment and hemodynamic instability after neonatal cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) might be exacerbated by hemodilution. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of different bloodless prime volumes on the hemodynamics and the inflammatory response by a miniaturized CPB system in neonatal piglets. The bypass circuit consisted of a Capiox RX05 (Capiox Baby RX, Terumo Corp., Tokyo, Japan) oxygenator and 3/16 internal diameter arterial and venous polyvinyl chloride tubing lines, with a minimum 75 mL prime volume. Twelve 1-week-old piglets were placed on a mild hypothermic CPB (32°C) at 120 mL/kg/min for 2 h. The animals were divided into two groups, based on the volume of the prime solution. The priming volume was 75 mL in Group I and 175 mL in Group II. No blood transfusions were performed, and no inotropic or vasoactive drugs were used. The interleukin-6 (IL-6) and thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complex levels, as well as right ventricular and pulmonary functions, were measured before and after CPB. Group I had low levels of IL-6 and TAT immediately after CPB (4370 ± 2346 vs. 9058 ± 2307 pg/mL, P < 0.01 and 9.9 ± 7.7 vs. 25.1 ± 8.8 ng/mL, P < 0.01, respectively). Group I had significantly improved cardiopulmonary function, cardiac index (0.22 ± 0.03 vs. 0.11 ± 0.05 L/kg/min, P < 0.001), and pulmonary vascular resistance index (7366 ± 2860 vs. 28 620 ± 15 552 dynes/cm5/kg, P < 0.01) compared with Group II. The miniaturized bloodless prime circuit for neonatal CPB demonstrated that the influence of hemodilution can reduce the subsequent inflammatory response. In addition, a low prime volume could therefore be particularly effective for attenuating pulmonary vascular resistance and right ventricular dysfunction in neonates. [source]


Sildenafil Improves the Beneficial Haemodynamic Effects of Intravenous Nitrite Infusion during Acute Pulmonary Embolism

BASIC AND CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY, Issue 4 2008
Carlos A. Dias-Junior
While previous studies have shown that sildenafil (an inhibitor of cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase type 5) or nitrite (a storage molecule for nitric oxide) produces beneficial effects during acute pulmonary embolism, no previous study has examined whether the combination of these drugs can produce additive effects. Here, we expand previous findings and examine whether sildenafil enhances the beneficial haemodynamic effects produced by a low-dose infusion of nitrite in a dog model of acute pulmonary embolism. Haemodynamic and arterial blood gas evaluations were performed in non-embolized dogs treated with saline (n = 4), and in embolized dogs (intravenous injections of microspheres) that received nitrite (6.75 µmol/kg intravenously over 15 min. followed by 0.28 µmol/kg/min.) and sildenafil (0.25 mg/kg over 30 min.; n = 8), or nitrite followed by saline (n = 8), or saline followed by sildenafil (n = 7), or only saline (n = 8). Plasma thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) concentrations were determined using a fluorometric method. Acute pulmonary embolism increased pulmonary artery pressure by ,24 mmHg. While the infusion of nitrite or sildenafil infusions reversed this increase by ,42% (both P < 0.05), the combined infusion of both drugs reversed this increase by ,58% (P < 0.05). Similar effects were seen on the pulmonary vascular resistance index. Nitrite or sildenafil alone produced no significant hypotension. However, the combined infusion of both drugs caused transient hypotension (P < 0.05). Both dugs, either alone or combined, blunted the increase in TBARS concentrations caused by acute pulmonary embolism (all P < 0.05). These results suggest that sildenafil improves the beneficial haemodynamic effects of nitrite during acute pulmonary embolism. [source]


Twenty-Year Experience With Heart Transplantation for Infants and Children With Restrictive Cardiomyopathy: 1986,2006

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 1 2008
A. J. Bograd
Idiopathic restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) is a rare cardiomyopathy in children notable for severe diastolic dysfunction and progressive elevation of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). Traditionally, those with pulmonary vascular resistance indices (PVRI) >6 W.U. × m2 have been precluded from heart transplantation (HTX). The clinical course of all patients transplanted for RCM between 1986 and 2006 were reviewed. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative variables were evaluated. A total of 23 patients underwent HTX for RCM, with a mean age of 8.8 ± 5.6 years and a mean time from listing to HTX of 43 ± 60 days. Preoperative and postoperative (114 ± 40 days) PVRI were 5.9 ± 4.4 and 2.9 ± 1.5 W.U. × m2, respectively. At time of most recent follow-up (mean = 5.7 ± 4.6 years), the mean PVRI was 2.0 ± 1.0 W.U. × m2. Increasing preoperative mean pulmonary artery pressure (PA) pressure (p = 0.04) and PVRI > 6 W.U. × m2 (,2= 7.4, p < 0.01) were associated with the requirement of ECMO postoperatively. Neither PVRI nor mean PA pressure was associated with posttransplant mortality; 30-day and 1-year actuarial survivals were 96% and 86%, respectively. Five of the seven patients with preoperative PVRI > 6 W.U. × m2 survived the first postoperative year. We report excellent survival for patients undergoing HTX for RCM despite the high proportion of high-risk patients. [source]