P investigations of the hemodynamic effects of progressive constriction of the pulmonary artery have demonstrated the basic principles of right ventricular compensation for an increase in resistance to outflow." Acute obstruction of the pulmonary artery results initially in an increase in right ventricular diastolic volume and in increased vigor of cardiac contraction, with maintenance of cardi...

introduction: the correlation between right and left ventricular ejection fractions (rvef and lvef, respectively) has been studied in only a small number of patients with a marked decrease in rvef and lvef. the aim of the present study was to compare lvef and rvef in patients with ischemic heart disease. rvef and lvef were measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (cmr) imaging. materials a...

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine whether or not inhaled nitric oxide (NO) could improve hemodynamic function in patients with right ventricular myocardial infarction (RVMI) and cardiogenic shock (CS). BACKGROUND Inhaled NO is a selective pulmonary vasodilator that can decrease right ventricular afterload. METHODS Thirteen patients (7 males and 6 females, age 65 +/- 3 years) presenting with...

The patient presented by Dr Patricia Campbell1 from the Advanced Heart Disease Section of Brigham and Women’s Hospital exemplifies challenges that surround the possible diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis. Constrictive pericarditis is a pericardial compressive syndrome due to fibrosis, scarring, and occasionally calcification of the pericardium. The primary pathophysiological consequence is ...

Since heart failure may occur in the setting of lung dysfunction and CO2 retention with only modest increases in cardiac work load, we questioned whether myocardial function is impaired by hypercapnic acidosis. To determine the influence of hypercapnic acidosis on right ventricular function, we measured the effects of acute (2 hours) and chronic (2 weeks) hypercapnic acidosis on right ventricul...

In 16 adult patients, we performed continuous intraoperative two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2DTEE) to help elucidate the mechanism of myocardial dysfunction that accompanies liver transplantation. In 4 of the 16 patients "paradoxical" motion of the interventricular septum consistent with right ventricular failure was seen. An additional three of the 16 patients showed right a...

BACKGROUND Treatment of right ventricular outflow tract obstruction is possible with a bare metal stent (BMS), although this treatment causes pulmonary regurgitation. In this study, we assessed the acute physiological effects of BMS versus percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation (PPVI) using an x-ray/magnetic resonance hybrid laboratory. METHODS AND RESULTS Fourteen consecutive children (me...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the long-term functional and hemodynamic effects of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) pacing by comparison with right ventricular apical (RVA) pacing. BACKGROUND Acute studies have suggested that RVOT pacing could significantly improve cardiac performance in comparison with RVA pacing but no data are available in chronically implanted patients. METHODS Sixteen pa...

This study describes the clinical experience with four patients with variant angina caused by spasm of the right coronary artery who were assessed for evidence of right ventricular involvement. The patients were suspected of having predominant right ventricular ischemia on the basis of normal thallium-201 scans, left ventricular ejection fraction, regional wall motion assessed by equilibrium ra...

This study describes the clinical experience with four patients with variant angina caused by spasm of the right coronary artery who were assessed for evidence of right ventricular involvement. The patients were suspected of having predominant right ventricular ischemia on the basis of normal thallium-201 scans, left ventricular ejection fraction, regional wall motion assessed by equilibrium ra...