Anjali Vaidya advocates integrating echocardiography in PH diagnosis

At the CHEST 2026 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, Anjali Vaidya, MD, emphasized the necessity of integrating echocardiography with right heart catheterization (RHC) for the accurate diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Dr. Vaidya, a professor of medicine at Temple University, noted that while RHC has long been considered the gold standard, relying on a single test can lead to diagnostic pitfalls. She advocated for a clinical approach that combines RHC hemodynamics with echocardiographic data to better navigate complex hemodynamics.

Technical considerations discussed include patient and transducer positioning, troubleshooting artifacts, and accounting for pleural pressure swings during the respiratory cycle. The integration of bedside point-of-care ultrasound alongside hemodynamics is presented as a way to mitigate the limitations of using RHC in isolation.