Portal Vein Flow Variability to Quantify Right-Sided Hemodynamic Congestion (PORTAL)

Portal Vein Flow Variability to Quantify Right-Sided Hemodynamic Congestion: A Proof-Of-Concept Study

This study evaluates the accuracy of a comprehensive venous Doppler echography including the portal vein pulsatility index (PVPI) to quantify invasively measured right-sided venous pressures. A substudy will correlate invasive and non-invasive hemodynamic measurements to ballistocardiography and seismocardiography with the Kino-cardiograph (Kino) device (HeartKinetics, Waterloo, Belgium).

Inclusion Criteria:

• At least 18 year old and able to provide informed consent;
• Consecutive patients scheduled for right heart catheterisation by a dedicated heart failure specialist at the Centre of Cardiovascular Diseases (University Hospital Brussels, Jette, Belgium).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Major anatomical variations of the portal veins (agenesis of left and right portal vein) and/or arterio-portal vein fistula;
• Patients with Child-Pugh B or C liver cirrhosis or liver transplant;
• Body Mass Index < 20 kg/m².