Effects of Hemodynamics on Global and Regional Lung Perfusion, A Quantitative Lung Perfusion Study by MRI

Background —Cardiac hemodynamics affect pulmonary vascular pressure and flow but little is known of the effects of hemodynamics on lung perfusion at the tissue level. We sought to investigate the relationship between hemodynamic abnormalities in patients with left heart failure and global and regional lung perfusion using lung perfusion quantitation by MRI. Methods and Results —Lung perfusion was quantified in 10 normal subjects and 28 patients undergoing clinically indicated left and right heart catheterization and same day research cardiac MRI. A total of 228 lung slices were evaluated. Global lung perfusion, determined as the average of 6 coronal lung slices through the anterior, mid and posterior left and right lungs, was significantly lower in patients with reduced cardiac index ( 2 ): 94±30 ml/100ml/min vs 132±40 ml/100ml/min in those with preserved cardiac index (≥ 2.5 L/min/m 2 ) (p=0.003). The gravitational anterior to posterior perfusion gradient was inversely associated with left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) (r=-0.728, p<0.001) resulting in a blunted perfusion gradient in patients with elevated LVEDP, a finding largely attributed to the perfusion reduction in posterior lung regions. In a multivariate regression analysis adjusting for all hemodynamic variables altered lung perfusion gradient was most closely associated with increased mean pulmonary arterial pressure (p=0.016). Conclusions —Increased left ventricular filling pressure and the resultant increase in pulmonary arterial pressure are associated with disruption of the normal gravitational lung perfusion gradient. Our findings underscore the complexity of heart lung interaction in determining pulmonary hemodynamics in left heart failure.