"Currently, invasive right heart catheterization is required to confirm and often exclude diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension," study presenter Dr. Fabian Rengier, from University Hospital Heidelberg in Germany, told AuntMinnie.com. "Noninvasive imaging techniques, including 3D volumetry of pulmonary arteries, have the potential to exclude diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension in certain patients so that invasive right heart catheterization is not required in these patients."
To confirm the feasibility of 3D volumetry of pulmonary arteries based on MR angiography, Rengier and colleagues collected data through 1.5-tesla MRI scans of 37 subjects.
More than half of the participants had pulmonary arterial hypertension confirmed by right heart catheterization, while the remainder were healthy volunteers with no history of cardiovascular disease. The researchers then used MR angiography-based 3D volumetry image analysis software developed at the hospital to automatically segment the main, right, and left pulmonary arteries of both groups of individuals.
The results depicted significantly increased volumes for the main, right, and left pulmonary arteries in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, compared with the healthy volunteers. In addition, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were all 100% for right pulmonary artery volume, prompting the researchers to conclude that the volume of the right pulmonary artery might be an accurate predictor for pulmonary hypertension.
As for the benefit to patients, Rengier noted that 3D MRI volumetry is noninvasive and "free from ionizing radiation."
However, the results do need to be further validated in a larger study population, he said.
