BACKGROUND The association of right ventricular (RV) structure and function with symptoms in individuals without cardiopulmonary disease is unknown. We hypothesized that greater RV mass and RV end-diastolic volume (RVEDV), smaller RV stroke volume (RVSV), and lower RV ejection fraction (RVEF) measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in participants free of clinical cardiovascular di...

BACKGROUND Assessment of diffuse right ventricular (RV) fibrosis is of particular interest in pulmonary hypertension (PH) and heart failure (HF). Current cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) T1 mapping techniques such as Modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) imaging have limited resolution, but accelerated and navigator-gated Look-Locker imaging for cardiac T1 estimation (ANGIE) is...

In ten patients requiring respiratory support for an episode of acute respiratory failure (ARF), the best therapeutic level of PEEP was determined by measurement of changes in lung and chest wall compliance (CT) during a PEEP challenge from 0 to 20 cm H2O. During this challenge, hemodynamic monitoring combined with thermodilution measurement of right ventricular (RV) ejection fraction (EF) and ...

Background The right ventricular (RV) size responds to many cardiopulmonary diseases characterized by chronic pressure and volume overload. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is considered the “gold-standard” for RV evaluation. The RV end-diastolic volume indexed to body surface area (RVEDVi) has been used for RV size assessment, but this parameter alone may not be sensitive enough to dete...

BACKGROUND Running an ultramarathon has been shown to have a transient negative effect on right ventricular (RV) and left ventricular (LV) function. Additionally, recent findings suggested that ultraendurance athletes may be more at risk of developing a RV cardiomyopathy. The standard echocardiographic assessment of RV function is problematic; however, the introduction of ultrasonic speckle tra...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a lethal disease characterized by obstructive pulmonary vascular remodeling and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Although RV function predicts outcomes in PAH, mechanisms of RV dysfunction are poorly understood, and RV-targeted therapies are lacking. We hypothesized that in PAH, abnormal microtubular structure in RV cardiomyocytes impairs R...

BACKGROUND Adverse right ventricular (RV) remodeling has significant prognostic and therapeutic implications to patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH). However, differentiating RV adaption from adverse remodeling associated with poor outcomes is difficult. We hypothesized that novel 3-dimensional (3D) wall motion tracking echocardiography can differentiate morphological features of RV adapti...

Introduction: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) and the associated RV dysfunction is increasingly being encountered in the perioperative period. Managing these patients is challenging, but a thorough understanding of the pathophysiology of PH and the associated RV dysfunction allows the practioner to anticipate, prevent and successfully manage many of the perioperative risks. The normal systolic, dia...