Pulmonary embolism attenuation is a potential imaging biomarker for pulmonary artery hemodynamic improvement after catheter-directed thrombolysis.
Edwin A TakahashiChristopher J ReisenauerAndrew H StocklandHaraldur BjarnasonMelissa J NeisenNewton B NeidertWilliam S HarmsenCourtney N DaySanjay MisraPublished in: Vascular medicine (London, England) (2018)
This study examined the potential correlation between pulmonary embolism (PE) attenuation on computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and pulmonary artery hemodynamic response to catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) in 10 patients with submassive PE. Treatment parameters, PE attenuation, clot burden, computed tomography signs of right ventricle dysfunction and right ventricular systolic pressure at echocardiography were retrospectively analyzed to determine correlation with pulmonary artery pressure improvement using Spearman correlation. A single reader, blinded to the treatment results, measured PE attenuation of all patients. There was a significant positive correlation between PE attenuation and absolute pulmonary artery pressure improvement with a Spearman correlation of 0.741, p=0.014. When attenuation was greater than or equal to the median (44.5 HU, n=5), CDT was associated with significantly better pulmonary artery pressure improvement ( p=0.037). Clot attenuation at CTPA may be a potential imaging biomarker for predicting pulmonary artery pressure improvement after CDT.
Keyphrases
- pulmonary artery
- pulmonary embolism
- pulmonary hypertension
- coronary artery
- computed tomography
- pulmonary arterial hypertension
- inferior vena cava
- positron emission tomography
- high resolution
- left ventricular
- magnetic resonance imaging
- heart failure
- blood pressure
- newly diagnosed
- optical coherence tomography
- risk factors
- mitral valve
- study protocol
- dual energy
- photodynamic therapy
- pet ct
- risk assessment