Evaluation of left ventricular filling pressure by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography in the intensive care unit.

Objective: To determine whether Doppler transmitral and pulmonary venous flow pattern is related to left ventricular filling pressures in critically ill patients.

Design: Prospective clinical investigation.

Setting: Medical intensive care unit of a university hospital.

Patients: Fifty-four mechanically ventilated patients (age, 63 +/- 16 yrs) were investigated via transthoracic echocardiography and Doppler. Main diagnoses were pneumonia (31%), acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (24%), congestive heart failure (11%), and poisoning (11%).

Interventions: Doppler examinations were performed simultaneously with measurements of pulmonary artery occlusion pressure via a right heart catheter.

Measurements And Main Results: Pulmonary artery occlusion pressure correlated with transmitral peak E-wave velocity (r =.46) and E/A ratio (r =.55). Pulmonary artery occlusion pressure inversely correlated with deceleration time of the transmitral E-wave (r = -.52), pulmonary venous peak S-wave velocity (r = -.37), and systolic fraction of the pulmonary forward flow (r = -.56). An E/A ratio >2 predicted a pulmonary artery occlusion pressure >18 mm Hg with a positive predictive value of 100%. A duration of pulmonary venous A-wave reversal flow exceeding the duration of the transmitral A-wave forward flow predicted a pulmonary artery occlusion pressure >15 mm Hg with a positive predictive value of 83%. A systolic fraction of the pulmonary venous forward flow <0.4 predicted a pulmonary artery occlusion pressure >12 mm Hg with a positive predictive value of 100%.

Conclusion: Transmitral and pulmonary venous flow patterns measured by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography can be used to estimate the left ventricular filling pressure in critically ill patients.