Comparison of Non-invasive Methods – Impedance Cardiography and 2-dimentional Transthoracic Echocardiography Applied for Diagnostics of Pulmonary Artery Hypertension

Abstract

By using an original policardiosignal analysis system developed in the Kaunas Institute of Cardiology, the method based on impedance cardiography for evaluation of blood pressure in pulmonary artery is presented. This method was tested by using data of 181 patients with various cardiac and pulmonary diseases, and for all of them two-dimentional transtoracic cardioechoscopy was performed in aim to confirm or exclude pulmonary artery hypertension Impedance cardiography is sensitive and specific method in diagnostics of pulmonary artery hypertension: the pulmonary artery hypertension was diagnosed by computed mean blood pressure in pulmonary with sensitivity of 72%, specificity – 90 %, and by systolic blood pressure in pulmonary artery – with sensitivity of 96 %, specificity – 90 %. The impedance cardiography is statistically trusted method and it strongly and significantly correlates with cardioechoscopy method when separating patients with or without pulmonary artery hypertension: the values of mean blood pressure obtained by impedance cardiogram and cardioechoscopy correlate in level of r = 0.755, p<0.001, and values of systolic blood pressure – in level of r = 0.893, p<0.001. These results permit to assume, that impedance cardiography, as non-invasive, inexpensive and user-friendliness method could be used for blood pressure evaluation in aim to detect the hypertension of pulmonary artery.