Differential Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension With Automated Image Analysis - a Pilot Study
Differential Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension With Automated Image Analysis - a Pilot Study
The aim of the study is to determine relevant morphologic parameters of the lung vasculature for the differentiation between different groups of patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) by thoracic computer tomography (CT). In this pilot study patients undergoing right heart catheterization will be investigated by thoracic CT and special software to determine morphologic readouts.
The investigators expect that using this non-invasive method, parameters relevant for the differentiation of the patients with PH can be determined.
Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is defined as an elevated mean pressure in the pulmonary artery above 20mmHg determined at right-heart catheterization. Depending on the presentation and pathogenesis, patients are classified according to five main groups. A correct classification is crucial, since it is essential for the available therapy options.
A promising non-invasive method to provide important hemodynamic and clinical Information is the fully-automatic analysis of thoracic computed tomography images. This method can yield a number of quantitative morphologic readouts of the lung vasculature and the parenchyma.
This study aims to identify quantitative markers from the fully-automatic image analysis, which allow a discrimination between the various PH patient groups.
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