Introduction: The diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (APE) in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) remains a difficult task, despite the refinement of imaging techniques. The goal of this study was to assess the value of measuring tricuspid and mitral valve systolic annular velocities in CHF patients with suspected PE by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).
Material and methods: The study included 75 patients with previously diagnosed CHF, admitted due to resting dyspnea, with a maximum tricuspid regurgitation pressure gradient (TRPG) of ≥ 35 mm Hg and positive D-dimer assay. Spiral computed tomography (sCT) was performed on all subjects to confirm APE. Acute pulmonary embolism was diagnosed in 35 patients (PE+), and excluded in 40 others (PE–). Tissue Doppler imaging was performed to measure maximum systolic lateral annular velocities in the mitral (SmLV) and tricuspid (SmRV) valves, as well as the SmRV/SmLV ratio.
Results: PE+ subjects were found to have higher SmLV than PE– subjects (6.0 cm/s (2.0–13.8 cm/s) vs. 4.2 cm/s (1.3–9.1 cm/s), p = 0.003). SmRV/SmLV ratios were 1.05 (0.50–2.50) and 1.56 (0.62–4.30), respectively (p < 0.0001). Areas under ROC curves for diagnosis of APE were 0.700 for SmLV and 0.789 for SmRV/SmLV. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, only SmRV/SmLV was statistically significant, with an odds ratio for APE of 6.26 (95% CI: 1.53–25.59; p = 0.009).
Conclusions: Tissue Doppler imaging of the lateral tricuspid and mitral annuli is a useful clinical tool that can help identify PE in CHF patients. Those patients who fulfill these criteria should be considered for further diagnostic studies to confirm PE.