Impact of positive airway pressure on right ventricular afterload in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

RATIONALE: The impact of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is currently unknown in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of CPAP on cardiopulmonary haemodynamics in patients with PAH compared to healthy volunteers.

METHODS

All participants underwent an oesophageal catheter insertion followed by right heart catheterisation with and without the application of CPAP at 10 cmH2O. The primary outcome was the effect of CPAP on cardiopulmonary haemodynamics and intrapleural pressures within and between groups.

RESULTS

In both PAH (n=18) and healthy (n=5) participants the acute application of CPAP increased the oesophageal pressure significantly from baseline (all p<0.007). There was a decline in cardiac output in both groups from baseline (p=0.047), which was due to a reduction in heart rate (p=0.027) rather than stroke volume (p=0.8). CPAP significantly reduced right ventricular end-diastolic pressure (p=0.02), without a significant impact on resistive right ventricular afterload. CPAP did not significantly change pulmonary artery or pulmonary vascular resistance in either group. The calculated dynamic pulmonary arterial compliance was increased in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In PAH and healthy participants, CPAP had a modest effect on intrapleural pressures. The transmural haemodynamic changes of CPAP were modest with a net increase in pulmonary vascular compliance in both groups, but no change in resistive right ventricular afterload in the PAH group. The current study did not demonstrate any deleterious effects of CPAP on pulmonary haemodynamics.