Right ventricular mass has better reproducibility in systole than diastole in patients with suspected pulmonary hypertension

Background Accurate estimation of right ventricular (RV) measurements is important in the clinical assessment of patients with pulmonary hypertension and has a potential role as an end-point in clinical trials. However, there is no clear agreement as to how RV mass measurements should be performed. RV mass is traditionally measured in diastole even though RV musculature is known to be thicker in systole as compared to diastole. The aim of this study was to determine the reproducibility of RV mass measurements in patients with pulmonary hypertension in both systolic and diastolic phases of the cardiac cycle.