Imaging Task Force

2021 Annual Report

The past year and a half have been challenging for all of us professionally and personally. The members of the Imaging Task Force have missed the opportunity to meet with colleagues and friends and look forward to getting together again at upcoming meetings.

As part of the PVRI2021 Digital Webinar Series, members of the Task Force hosted a PVRI web-based symposium on Novel imaging approaches in pulmonary hypertension patients.

Talks included: 

• An update from the Fleischner Society Task Force for imaging in pulmonary hypertension Martine Remy (Jardin, Lille, France)
• Molecular imaging of pulmonary vascular disease using microvascular endothelial cell ligands Jocelyn Dupuis (Montreal, Canada)
• MRI to assess pulmonary vascular changes and PH progression Jens Vogel-Claussen (Hanover, Germany)
• Xenon magnetic resonance imaging signatures of PH Sudarshan Rajagopal (Durham, USA)
• Synchrotron-based phase-contrast micro-CT imaging of pulmonary vascular disease in human tissue and animal models Karin Tran-Lundmark (Lund, Sweden)

Previous Task Force symposia resulted in the creation and publication of an algorithm and rationale for the imaging of suspected pulmonary hypertension.

This PVRI Task Force Statement on Imaging in Pulmonary Hypertension, published in Pulmonary Circulation, has been the most cited article for that journal over the past three years.

We are working towards submitting a follow-up Statement from the PVRI Imaging Task Force in 2023 entitled  The role of imaging in the assessment of disease severity and follow-up of patients with pulmonary hypertension.

This will be discussed at the Imaging Task Force hybrid meeting to be held in June 2022 on the day before PVRI’s Annual World Congress in Athens.

Anticipated topics include: 

The use of imaging in risk stratification, follow-up, and as a surrogate end-point in clinical trials. 

We hope to see all of you there.

Overarching Objectives of PVRI’s Imaging Task Force

1. Harmonise imaging protocols to improve international clinical and pulmonary vascular research collaboration.
2. Help to develop a network of international pulmonary hypertension Imaging centres to allow dissemination of best practice.
3. We also want to include clinicians, radiologists, imaging scientists and industry partners alongside dedicated PH professionals.
4. Facilitate a step change in how we use medical imaging and translate this into clinical practice and pulmonary hypertension treatment.
5. Lastly, we want to disseminate current evidence for the use of imaging in the assessment of pulmonary vascular disease in formats that will be accessible and educational. 

2020 Annual Report

The PVRI Imaging Task Force continues to grow, with membership from various academic disciplines, including clinical medicine, imaging, physiology, and computational modelling.

The year began quietly enough with the 3rd Annual PVRI Imaging and Pulmonary Hypertension Task Force Symposium held at the end of January 2020 at the PVRI World Congress in Lima. Presenters and attendees came from around the world, with strong regional representation from South and Central America. Attendance continues to increase year over year with more than 30 physicians and scientists present for the 2020 symposium.

The Symposium began with a review of the newly published PVRI Imaging Consensus Statement. This led to a spirited discussion of variation in evaluation of suspected pulmonary hypertension based on regional expertise and the local availability of imaging. This was to be a focus of investigation for the Task Force for the year. However, these plans were delayed once the Coronavirus pandemic became the primary focus of many of the members of the Task Force.

Looking Forward to 2021

For most of us, virtual meetings have become commonplace during the pandemic. This year, the PVRI will be hosting a series of webinars for its members. Webinar 8 will focus on ‘Novel imaging approaches in pulmonary hypertension patients’. There will be a discussion of both current and future imaging approaches to the evaluation of suspected pulmonary hypertension. We hope you can join us for this on Wednesday, 26 May 2021 from 15:00 to 17:00 (GMT).

Goals for 2021

Additional goals for 2021 and beyond include exploring imaging practices worldwide by conducting and auditing current approaches within the PVRI community and contributing regularly to web-based interactive cases on the PVRI website.

From all of us in the Imaging and Pulmonary Hypertension Task Force, we wish you a very safe and healthy 2021.

2019 Annual Report

Achievements in 2019 

• The PVRI Imaging Task Force continues to grow with membership from different communities, including clinical, imaging, physics and modelling backgrounds.
• The second dedicated PVRI Imaging Symposium was held in Barcelona in 2019.

-        There were over 30 attendees, including new members to the group, with presenters and attendees coming from all over Europe, Africa, the USA and the Asia-Pacific region.

-        The programme offered an overview of state-of-the-art imaging in pulmonary hypertension, imaging approaches in pulmonary embolism, real world challenges and future perspectives (such as imaging of vessels, the clinical use of complex measures and the use of artificial intelligence approaches).

• A comprehensive consensus statement by the PVRI Imaging Task Force was published in Pulmonary Circulation in 2019.

-        This publication included 27 authors from Europe, America, Africa and Asia-Pacific, spanning 10 countries and representation from physicians, radiologists, imaging scientists and computational modellers.

-        It is the first expert consensus publication specifically dealing with imaging and pulmonary hypertension.

-        The content includes a state of the art overview of the diagnostic pathway/algorithm for potential pulmonary hypertension patients, including 55 summary statements based on a Delphi approach. 

-        We encourage members of the PVRI to review the guideline and consider its adoption in their clinical practice. 

PVRI pulmonary hypertension diagnostic algorithm (PDF).

Goals for 2020-2022 

• Aim to contribute regularly to web-based interactive cases on PVRI site
• Explore imaging practices worldwide by conducting and auditing of current approaches within the PVRI community
• Identify priority work-streams from the PVRI meeting in Peru. 

Further information

• 2021 Annual Report
• 2020 Annual Report
• 2019 Annual report
• 2018 Annual report
• 2017 Annual report
• 2016 Annual report
• 2015 Annual report