Ryohei Yokoyama, Yoshihiko Kodama, Kazunari Takamura, Masako Takahashi, Miyo Tanaka, Nozomi Watanabe, Hiroshi Moritake
University of Miyazaki.
Japan
Journal of Cardiology Cases
J Cardiol Cases 2025; 31: 155-157
DOI: 10.1016/j.jccase.2025.02.003
Abstract
Exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) is a feasible and valuable tool for evaluating subclinical pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, its utility in patients with unilateral pulmonary branch stenosis remains unclear. We present a case involving a 17-year-old patient with left pulmonary branch stenosis who exhibited exercise-induced PH in the contralateral pulmonary artery as detected by ESE. Standard echocardiography was unable to visualize the left pulmonary artery clearly; therefore, computed tomography was performed, revealing a left pulmonary branch stenosis with a minimum diameter of 4.2 mm. Resting echocardiography showed a pressure gradient of 17 mmHg, calculated using the tricuspid regurgitant velocity. During ESE with a prone ergometer, the slope of the mean pulmonary arterial pressure to systemic cardiac output was 3.1 mmHg/L/min, meeting the diagnostic criteria for exercise-induced PH. The patient underwent stent implantation to treat the left pulmonary branch stenosis. Follow-up ESE demonstrated improvement, with the slope of the mean pulmonary arterial pressure to systemic cardiac output decreasing to 1.5 mmHg/L/min. These findings underscore that ESE is both feasible and effective for assessing subclinical unilateral pulmonary branch stenosis.
Category
Segmental Pulmonary Arterial Disease
Class I. Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with Congenital Cardiovascular Disease
Diagnostic Testing for Pulmonary Vascular Disease. Non-invasive Testing
Age Focus: Pediatric Pulmonary Vascular Disease
Fresh or Filed Publication: Fresh (PHresh). Less than 1-2 years since publication
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