Clinical research into PTSDAlso new on VPT's website is Upcoming research on how patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have a link to heart disease or heart falure and how VMS will be used to help them.
Planning the Future
One of the most difficult tasks in cardiac care is identifying HF before an individual becomes symptomatic and presents to the hospital for the first time. This is where Ventripoint, through the use of its VMS™, is able to add great value to any future PTSD and HF studies. Current available data allows for quantification of multiple cardiac parameters via 2D Echocardiography (Echo), Electrocardiogram (EKG/ECG), and results derived from blood analysis. The widest used cardiac imaging method used to date for assessment of HF is 2D Echo, due to the fact it is relatively inexpensive and readily available, especially compared to cardiac MRI (cMRI), which is considered the Gold Standard for cardiac chamber quantification. In determining heart failure, it is imperative to be able to determine the efficiency, or Ejection Fraction (EF) of the Left and Right Ventricle (LV and RV), as well as the volumes for each, namely the End Diastolic (ED) volume. Current routine Echo includes the parameters of the LV including EF and volumes. Although commercial technology is available to assess the RV EF and volumes, due to the challenges presented by the RV, namely the complex geometry, results vary greatly between methods. Only the VMS™ provides results of RV EF and volumes that have been determined by the FDA to be substantially equivalent to the Gold Standard cMRI. It is hypothesized that the key to better understanding the causative link between PTSD and HF, and improving diagnosis and outcomes of HF, lies within a better understanding of the RV functional parameters.
As indicated by the referenced literature, potential pathways by which HF may occur with PTSD is related to dysregulation of hormones that cause inflammation of vascular endothelium. This includes the vascular structure of the lungs, which can directly and adversely affect the RV volumes leading to subsequent failure of both the RV and LV.
It is therefore recommended that any future research conducted to evaluate individuals with PTSD should be mandated to include accurate quantification of the volume and function of the RV. As such, the VMS™ would provide the most accurate and cost effective method for providing this information.