Introduction In the current literature, several studies show that pulmonary artery stiffness (PAS) is associated with right ventricular (RV) dysfunction, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and disease severity in patients with structural heart disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and chronic lung disease. Hence, in this study, we aimed to use PAS to show the early changes in the pulmonary vascular bed in patients with cirrhosis. Material and Methods In this prospective, cross-sectional study, 39 subjects who were being followed up with cirrhosis and 41 age- and sex-matched healthy participants were enrolled. For each case, the PAS value was calculated by dividing mean peak velocity of the pulmonary flow by the pulmonary flow acceleration time (PfAT). Results The measured PAS was 23.62 ± 5.87 (Hz/msn) in cirrhotic patients and 19.09 ± 4.16 (Hz/msn) in healthy subjects (p < 0.001). We found a positive statistical significance between PAS and systolic pulmonary arterial pressure (sPAP) (r = 0.378; p = 0.001). PAS was an independent predictor that was associated with cirrhosis disease according to multivariate logistic regression analysis (OR: 1.209; 95% CI: 1.059–1.381; p = 0.005). Conclusion Based on the study results, we consider that PAS may help in the early detection of changes in the pulmonary vascular bed, even if the RV function parameters or sPAP are within the normal range.

BACKGROUND:Aortic regurgitation(AR) is a clinical status characterized by diastolic blood backflow from aorta to the left ventricle. Grading the severity of AR is very important for clinical follow-up. In spite of numerous parameters, the severity of AR still remains unclear in some patients. In AR, left atrial(LA) mechanics can be affected in time and LA strain variations can be illuminating for the grading of AR. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the LA strain parameters are associated with the severity of aortic regurgitation or not. METHOD:64 consecutive patients with AR were included in this study.After echocardiographic examination according to the aortic regurgitation degree. Patients divided in three groups as mild(n: 22),moderate(n: 15) or severe(n: 27). All patients LA strain measurements performed and results compared between groups. RESULTS:According to echocardiographic measurements; between the groups; LA reservoir in the mild, moderate and severe AR groups were(42.0 ±18.0, 41.4±14.8, 29.2 ±6.0 repectively, p:0.002) and LA conduit in the mild, moderate and severe AR groups were (21.2±8.7, 19.3±7.4 and 13.1 ± 4.4 respectively p <0.001), statistically significant different, while no statistically significant difference was noticed on LA SRs,LA SRe,LA SRa. CONCLUSION:This study showed that LA reservoir and LA conduit parameters of the patients with severe AR significantly decreased compared to those of the mild and moderate AR group. The grading of the LA mechanics in patients with chronic AR might provide a supplementary contribution to the present parameters in the grading of AR. Keywords: Aortic regurtation, graduation, left atrial strain