ABBREVIATIONS : AHI 5 apnea-hypopnea index ; BNP 5 B-type natriuretic peptide ; CRP 5 C-reactive protein ; CSA 5 central sleep apnea ; CSR 5 Cheyne-Stokes respiration ; CTEPH 5 chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension ; IPAH 5 idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension ; LV 5 left ventricular ; mPAP 5 mean pulmonary artery pressure ; NPV 5 negative predictive value ; OHS 5 obesity hypovent...

A transversal and interventional study that included 30 critically ill patients with acute circulatory failure, sedated and mechanically ventilated with a tidal volume of 6 to 7 ml/kg. Mechanical ventilatory measurements including positive end-expiratory pressure plateau and peak pressures, static compliance and hemodynamic measurements including PPV, heart rate, mean systemic and pulmonary art...

AIMS Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) is an important measurement for the diagnosis of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) but needs accurate determination of mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAMP). We aimed to test the accuracy of a Doppler-derived measurement of PVR, using the conventional invasive equation in patients with PH. METHODS AND RESULTS We investigated 30 patients undergo...

BACKGROUND Accurate determination of left ventricular filling pressure is essential for differentiation of pre-capillary pulmonary hypertension (PH) from pulmonary venous hypertension (PVH). Previous data suggest only a poor correlation between left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and its commonly used surrogate, the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP). However, no data exist o...

BACKGROUND Although some patients report favorable activity levels late after partial left ventriculectomy (PLV), their exercise physiology has not been well described. METHODS AND RESULTS We performed upright bicycle hemodynamics in 10 patients (9 men) aged 56+/-12 years at 1.7 years after PLV. Ejection fraction was 25+/-4%. Patients biked 10+/-7 minutes. With exercise, the mean pulmonary ar...

Performance After Bed Rest To the Editor: Perhonen et al1 estimate changes in the left ventricular (LV) diastolic rest volume before and after bed rest. By definition, diastolic rest volume is that volume which exists at zero transmural LV diastolic pressure (LVDPtm). Although they acknowledge the potential role of pericardial constraint in their discussion, they ignore this effect by assuming ...

Background A transpulmonary gradient (TPG)>12mmHg is thought to represent evidence of vascular change beyond that expected from passive pulmonary venous congestion in patients with pulmonary hypertension and left heart disease (PH-LHD). However recent studies found those with a diastolic pressure gradient (DPG) >6 to have a worse survival. This has led to a change in the recent guidelines sugge...

Protamine is used after cardiopulmonary bypass was stopped in order to reverse the anticoagulant effects of heparin administered during open-heart operations. Adverse hemodynamic responses to protamine are common, ranging from minor perturbations to cardiovascular collapse. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a prostacyclin is effective in the treatment of protamine-mediated...

Pulmonary arterial hypertension affects the distal pulmonary vasculature causing intimal, medial, adventitial fibrosis, thickening and periadventitial changes leading to progressive increase in pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure [1]. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is defined as mean pulmonary artery pressure equal to or greater than 25 mm Hg at rest. PH is classified int...