Does cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) improve the detection of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) in patients with normal echocardiography?
CPET is a highly sensitive and specific noninvasive diagnostic tool that can accurately detect CTEPH even when echocardiography is normal.
Background: Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a serious complication of pulmonary embolism (PE). Taking into account the reported incidence of CTEPH after acute PE, the number of patients with undiagnosed CTEPH may be high. Objectives: We aimed to determine if cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) could serve as complementary tool in the diagnosis of CTEPH and can detect CTEPH in patients with normal echocardiography. Methods: At diagnosis, we analyzed the data of CPET parameters in 42 patients with proven CTEPH and 51 controls, and evaluated the performance of two scores. Results: VE/VCO2 slope, EQO2, EQCO2, P(A-a)O2, end-tidal partial pressure of CO2 at anaerobic threshold (PETCO2) and capillary to end-tidal carbon dioxide gradient P(c-ET)CO2 were significantly different between patients with CTEPH and controls (p CO2 was the single parameter with the highest sensitivity (85.7%) and specificity (88.2%). A score combining VE/VCO2 slope, P(A-a)O2, P(c-ET)CO2, PETCO2 4-parameter-CPET (4-P-CPET) score reached a sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 92.2% after cross-validation. In 42 patients with CTEPH, echocardiography identified PH in 29 patients (69%), but it was normal in 13 patients (31%). All patients with normal or unmeasurable right ventricular systolic pressure had a pathological CPET. Twelve of the 13 patients (92%) were detected by both CPET scores. Conclusion: CPET is a useful noninvasive diagnostic tool for the detection of CTEPH in patients with suspected PH but normal echocardiography. The 4-P-CPET score provides a high sensitivity with the highest specificity.
Held et al. (Wed,) studied this question.