Echocardiographic Evaluation of Hypertensive Acute Pulmonary Edema

Overview

Acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE), one of the most severe forms of acute heart failure, represents 5% of hospital admissions. One of the most frequent phenomena encountered during ACPE is hypertensive crisis (hypertensive ACPE) but the mechanisms and causes of hypertensive ACPE are insufficiently understood. Few studies have evaluated the cardiac function during hypertensive ACPE, and these studies used only conventional echocardiography methods. New methods of evaluation of cardiac function in hypertensive ACPE (such as Tissue Doppler imaging) have not been used. The objectives of this study are to evaluate presence and role of the following potential mechanisms of hypertensive ACPE: 1. acute myocardial dysfunction (systolic and diastolic); 2. silent transient myocardial ischemia; 3. acute mechanical left ventricular dyssynchrony; 4. dynamic mitral regurgitation; 5. inter-ventricular interaction. Conventional and Tissue Doppler echocardiography will be used to assess cardiac function.

Conditions

Eligibility