TY - JOUR T1 - False-positive diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension by Doppler echocardiography JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1476 LP - 1478 DO - 10.1183/09031936.98.12061476 VL - 12 IS - 6 AU - JL Vachiery AU - S Brimioulle AU - V Crasset AU - R Naeije Y1 - 1998/12/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/12/6/1476.abstract N2 - A 37-yr-old female presented with a history of several months of exertional dyspnoea. A diagnosis of primary pulmonary hypertension was suspected on the basis of a negative extensive cardiorespiratory work-up with a systolic pulmonary artery pressure of 41-46 mmHg calculated from repeated measurement of the maximum velocity of tricuspid regurgitation jets at 2.8-3 m x s(-1) by continuous-wave Doppler echocardiography. However, a right heart catheterization with a high-fidelity transducer-tipped catheter revealed pulmonary artery pressures of 22/8 mmHg at rest, which remained within normal limits at exercise. This case indicates a possible misleading overestimation of pulmonary artery pressures from Doppler echocardiographic studies of tricuspid regurgitation. ER -