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Objective Quantification of Bilateral Bubble Contrast Echocardiography Correlates with Systemic Oxygenation in Patients with Single Ventricle Circulation. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis 2024 Mar 01;11(3)

Date

03/27/2024

Pubmed ID

38535107

Pubmed Central ID

PMC10971280

DOI

10.3390/jcdd11030084

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85188897711 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)

Abstract

Bubble contrast echocardiography is commonly used to diagnose pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) in single ventricle congenital heart disease (CHD), yet previous studies inconsistently report a correlation between bubble echoes and oxygenation. In this study, we sought to re-evaluate the correlation between bubble echoes and oxygenation by assessing total bilateral shunting and unilateral shunting. We conducted a single-center, retrospective study of patients with single ventricle CHD and previous Glenn palliation who underwent a cardiac catheterization and bubble echocardiogram during the same procedure from 2011 to 2020. Spearman's rank correlation was performed to examine the relationship between total bilateral shunting and measures of systemic oxygenation, as well as unilateral shunting and ipsilateral pulmonary vein oxygenation. For all patients (n = 72), total bilateral shunting moderately correlated with peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) (rs = -0.44, p < 0.0001). For patients with Glenn/Kawashima circulation (n = 49), total bilateral shunting was moderately correlated (SpO2: rs = -0.38, p < 0.01). In contrast, unilateral shunting did not correlate with ipsilateral pulmonary vein oxygenation for any vein measured (p = 0.16-p > 0.99). In conclusion, the total burden of bilateral bubble shunting correlated with systemic oxygenation and may better reflect the total PAVM burden from all lung segments. Unilateral correlation may be adversely influenced by non-standardized approaches to pulmonary vein sampling.

Author List

Phimister A, Bushee C, Merbach M, Challa SA, Pan AY, Spearman AD

Author

Andrew Spearman MD Assistant Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of Wisconsin