COMPARISON OF CONVENTIONAL AND MODIFIED ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY FOR ESTIMATING PULMONARY ARTERY PRESSURE IN COPD PATIENTS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH CHEST COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
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Abstract
Objective: To compare pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) estimated by the conventional echocardiographic technique and a modified echocardiographic protocol in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and to evaluate the correlation between echocardiographic PASP and pulmonary artery (PA) dimensions measured on chest computed tomography (CT).
Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 64 COPD patients at the National Lung Hospital between May 2024 and October 2025. All patients underwent transthoracic doppler echocardiography using both conventional and modified techniques to estimate PASP via tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity. Chest CT scans (with or without intravenous contrast) were performed to measure PA diameters.
Results: The mean age was 70.5 ± 1.2 years; 92.2% were male. The median PASP estimated by the conventional technique was 25 mmHg (IQR 22–29) and by the modified technique was 30 mmHg (IQR 25–35; p < 0.001). The detection rate of elevated PASP increased from 29.7% with the conventional technique to 65.7% with the modified one. PASP showed a positive correlation with main, right, and left PA diameters on CT, with stronger correlations using the modified method (ρ = 0.762 for main PA, ρ = 0.492 for right PA, ρ = 0.444 for left PA; p ≤ 0.002). The mean main PA diameter in patients with elevated PASP (by the modified method) was 28.9 ± 2.67 mm, significantly larger than in those without elevation (25.1 ± 1.89 mm; p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The modified echocardiographic protocol detected more cases of elevated PASP and demonstrated stronger correlations with PA dimensions on CT compared to the conventional approach.
Keywords
COPD, Pulmonary artery pressure, Echocardiography
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References
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