Pulmonary impedance and right ventricular-vascular coupling during coronary angioplasty

Right ventricular ejection may be modified by alterations in pulmonary vascular properties during acute pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary artery impedance and reflection properties were analyzed during coronary angioplasty in nine patients with single-vessel disease involving the left anterior descending artery by use of high-fidelity catheter recordings of pulmonary pressure and flow made before angioplasty balloon inflation and at peak ischemia. Acute pulmonary hypertension in this resting model resulted in a significant decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance (142 +/- 54 to 92 +/- 64 dyn.s.cm-5, P < 0.05), increase in low-frequency impedance (67 +/- 36 to 101 +/- 43 dyn.s.cm-5, P < 0.05), and no change in high-frequency (characteristic) impedance (38 +/- 14 to 41 +/- 13 dyn.s.cm-5). Pulmonary wave reflection amplitudes were increased, and the amount of hydraulic power expended per unit of net forward flow significantly increased (3.1 +/- 0.7 to 4.3 +/- 0.7 mW.ml-1.s-1, P < 0.001). These findings indi...