Does the absence of a measurable tricuspid regurgitation velocity on TTE reliably exclude the presence of pulmonary hypertension in patients referred for right heart catheterization?
Clinicians should not assume the absence of pulmonary hypertension based solely on the lack of a measurable tricuspid regurgitation Doppler signal on echocardiography.
PH is present in almost half of patients without a measurable TRV who are referred for both TTE and right heart catheterization. Clinical and echocardiographic features of left heart disease are associated with invasively confirmed PH in subjects without a reported TRV. Clinicians should use caution when making assumptions about PH status in the absence of a measurable TRV on TTE.
O’Leary et al. (Sat,) studied this question.