Hemodynamic evaluation of right-sided congestion with doppler ultrasonography in pulmonary hypertension: portal vs intra-renal venous flow patterns

Abstract Introduction Renal congestion is a key pathophysiological mechanism mediating adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure. Novel approaches to evaluate renal congestion like renal Doppler ultrasonography show promise as a noninvasive hemodynamic monitoring tool. Portal Doppler ultrasound is a less challenging exam and could potentially provide similar information than intra-renal Doppler. Methods and Results We enrolled 95 patients with suspected or diagnosed pulmonary hypertension (PH) presenting to the emergency department or to a scheduled ambulatory clinic. Patients underwent renal and portal Doppler ultrasonography. Renal congestion was graded using the validated renal venous stasis index (RVSI) or renal venous patterns. The portal vein pulsatility fraction (PVPF) was used to quantify portal congestion. We found high degree of correlation (R = 0.93) between portal and renal congestion, with excellent agreement (κ = 0.92 [0.86-0.98]). Both RVSI and PVPF showed excellent interclass correlation and agreement amongst operators (ICC 0.93). 90-day mortality or need for renal replacement therapy was significantly more frequent in patients with high PVPF (p=0.001) HR: 5.3 (1.9-17.0). Conclusions Altered portal venous flow accurately predicts the presence of renal congestion and is technically easier to obtain. Portal vein Doppler may identify patients with pulmonary hypertension at risk for renal deterioration secondary to venous congestion.Portal-renal patterns and their outcomes