Collapsibility Index

Last week, we shared our new year resolutions which including writing more and inspiring more. So I am jumping right in by writing a blog on the correct method to estimate right atrial pressures (RAP) when calculating your RVSP during an echo. The American Society of Echocardiography has outlined the correct use of the Collapsibility Index to estimate RAP yet the majority of the echocardiograms that we review on a daily basis still have an RAP of 10 entered for every echo. After speaking with sonographers, most admit it’s either a bad habit or it is just what they were taught to do.