PORTAL-VEIN PULSATILITY RATIO PROVIDES A MEASURE OF RIGHT HEART FUNCTION IN CHRONIC HEART-FAILURE

Portal vein flow was recorded by color Doppler sonography in 31 patien ts with chronic heart failure and 18 control subjects, Compared with p atients showing a forward flow (Group A), those with reversed portal v ein flow (Group B) had higher prevalence of tricuspid regurgitation (7 5% vs. 43%), hepatic congestion (100% vs, 30%) and ascites (50% vs, 18 %), and showed higher right atrial pressure (25.3 +/- 3.01 mmHg vs. 11 .8 +/- 5.75 mmHg, p < 0.01), In controls, portal vein pulsatility rati o was 0.66 +/- 0.08, in Group A it was 0.46 +/- 0.28 (p < 0.01), in Gr oup B -0.60 +/- 0.19 (p < 0.01), Portal vein pulsatility ratio negativ ely correlated with right atrial pressure (r = -0.87; p < 0.01), In Gr oup A, hepatic congestion, ascites and tricuspid regurgitation were as sociated with a higher portal vein pulsatility, This study indicates t hat portal vein pulsatility ratio reflects the level of impairment of the right heart. (C) 1998 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.