Hepatic vein Doppler in critically ill patients: a reflection of central venous pressure or right ventricular systolic function?

BACKGROUND: To explore whether hepatic vein systolic filling fraction (SFF) is associated with central venous pressure (CVP) and right ventricular (RV) systolic function in critically ill patients. METHODS: Adult patients admitted to ICU with echocardiographic examination were retrospectively enrolled. Echocardiographic parameters including hepatic vein systolic velocity (S) and diastolic phase velocity (D) and haemodynamic information at the time of echo examination were collected. RV systolic dysfunction was defined as tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) < 16 mm. SFF was calculated as S/(S + D). RESULTS: Two hundred four patients were enrolled in this study among whom 40 patients had a CVP ≤5 mmHg, 110 patients had a CVP 6–9 mmHg and 54 patients had a CVP ≥10 mmHg. The three groups had similar S velocity, D velocity and SFF. No correlation between SFF and CVP was found (r = − 0.046, p = 0.500), but correlation between SFF and TAPSE was noticed (r = 0.468, p < 0.001). The ROC analysis showed that the area under curve (AUC) of SFF for determining CVP ≥10 mmHg was 0.513 (95% CI: 0.420–0.606, p = 0.775), but the AUC of SFF for determining RV systolic dysfunction was 0.759 (95% CI: 0.686–0.833, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Hepatic vein systolic filling fraction is associated with RV systolic function in critically ill patients and is not associated with CVP.