Echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular function.

To allow optimal patient management an ideal measure of right ventricular performance should give an accurate objective assessment of function, be practicable in everyday clinical use and provide accurate prognostic information. This review will provide the practising clinician with an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the available echocardiographic techniques and aims to give some guidance on the most useful methods in specific clinical circumstances. The use of non-echocardiographic methods will also be discussed.