Pulmonary hypertension detection using dynamic and static measurable parameters on CT angiography

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to assess dynamic and static parameters on routine computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) that may detect pulmonary hypertension (PH). METHODS: Fifty patients underwent CTPA and echocardiograms. Twenty-six patients had PH, and 24 patients did not have PH. The following parameters were measured on CTPA: density of the pulmonary artery (PA), ratio between the density in the PA and the thoracic aorta (TA), the time between the start of contrast injection to the time the scan trigger density was reached, and PA diameter. RESULTS: All measured parameters showed significant correlation with PH detected by echocardiogram. The best combination of parameters for detection of PH was contrast density ratio between PA and thoracic aorta of greater than or equal to 1.5 and/or a time to scan trigger of greater than or equal to 8 seconds. CONCLUSIONS: The parameters measured correlate well with PH by echocardiography. This suggests that CTPA can potentially be used to detect PH.