Assessing pulmonary hypertension in COPD. Is there a role for computed tomography?

Abstract

Florence Coste,1,2,* Ilyes Benlala,1–3,* Gaël Dournes,1–3 Pierre-Olivier Girodet,1–3 François Laurent,1–3,* Patrick Berger,1–3,* 1University Bordeaux, Centre de Recherche Cardio-Thoracique de Bordeaux, U1045, Bordeaux, F-33000 France; 2Inserm, Centre de Recherche Cardio-Thoracique de Bordeaux, U1045, CIC1401, Bordeaux, F-33000 France; 3CHU de Bordeaux, Service d’Imagerie Thoracique et Cardiovasculaire, Service des Maladies Respiratoires, CIC1401, Service d’Explorations Fonctionnelles Respiratoires, Pessac, F-33600 France*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Florence CosteCentre de Recherche Cardio-thoracique de Bordeaux, INSERM U1045, Université Bordeaux, 146 rue Léo Saignat, Bordeaux Cedex 33076, FranceTel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [email protected]: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Reference standard method to diagnose PH is right heart catheterization. Several non-invasive imaging techniques have been employed in the detection of PH. Among them, computed tomography (CT) is the most commonly used for phenotyping and detecting complications of COPD. Several CT findings have also been described in patients with severe PH. Nevertheless, CT analysis is currently based on visual findings which can lead to reproducibility failure. Therefore, there is a need for quantification in order to assess objective criteria. In this review, progresses in automated analyses of CT parameters and their values in predicting PH and COPD outcomes are presented.Keywords: computed tomography, pulmonary hypertension, COPD, prediction  

Keywords

• computed tomography
• pulmonary hypertension
• COPD
• prediction