Echocardiographic evaluation of pulmonary vascular resistance in 459 dogs with Doppler-derived pulmonary hypertension.

PVR assessment provides clinically useful information beyond SPAP in dogs with pulmonary hypertension.

This retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in 459 dogs with echocardiographically-determined pulmonary hypertension (PH) compared to 38 control dogs. PVR was calculated using three equations validated in human medicine. Dogs were stratified into precapillary PH (pre-PH, n=213) and postcapillary PH (post-PH, n=246), with post-PH further divided into isolated postcapillary (Ipc-PH, n=86) and combined post- and precapillary (Cpc-PH, n=160) categories. Mean PVR values differed significantly among groups: control dogs 2.5±0.9 WU, pre-PH 8.8 WU, Ipc-PH 4.6 WU, and Cpc-PH 9.2 WU (P<0.001). Notably, 28 dogs with post-PH demonstrated discordant changes between PVR and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (SPAP), identifying a subpopulation where PVR assessment would be clinically valuable. These findings suggest that echocardiographic PVR evaluation provides complementary diagnostic information beyond standard Doppler-derived PH assessment and may have prognostic significance in canine PH management.

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