Right ventricular presystolic peak velocity represents right ventricular function in stable patients

Counterpoint: Should Systemic Lytic Therapy Be Used for Submassive Pulmonary Embolism? No

Impact of right ventricular-pulmonary arterial coupling on clinical outcomes in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation

125 Left Ventricular Systolic Mechanics is not the only determinant of response to Cardiac resynchronization Therapy

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between central venous pressure (CVP) and acute right ventricular (RV) dysfunction in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation.MethodsThis retrospective study enrolled mechanically ventilated critically ill who underwent transthoracic echocardiographic examination and CVP monitoring. Echocardiographic indices including tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), fractional area change (FAC), and tricuspid lateral annular systolic velocity wave (S’) were collected to assess RV function. Patients were then classified into three groups based on their RV function and presence of systemic venous congestion as assessed by inferior vena cava diameter (IVCD) and hepatic vein (HV) Doppler: normal RV function (TAPSE ≥ 17 mm, FAC ≥ 35% and S’ ≥9.5 cm/sec), isolated RV dysfunction (TAPSE < 17 mm or FAC < 35% or S’ <9.5 cm/sec with IVCD ≤ 20 mm or HV S ≥ D), and RV dysfunction with congestion (TAPSE < 17 mm or FAC < 35% or S’ <9.5 cm/sec with IVCD > 20 mm and HV S < D).ResultsA total of 518 patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 301 were categorized in normal RV function group, 164 in isolated RV dysfunction group and 53 in RV dysfunction with congestion group. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed a good discriminative ability of CVP for identifying patients with RV dysfunction and congestion(AUC 0.839; 95% CI: 0.795–0.883; p < 0.001). The optimal CVP cutoff was 10 mm Hg, with sensitivity of 79.2%, specificity of 69.4%, negative predictive value of 96.7%, and positive predictive value of 22.8%. A large gray zone existed between 9 mm Hg and 12 mm Hg, encompassing 95 patients (18.3%). For identifying all patients with RV dysfunction, CVP demonstrated a lower discriminative ability (AUC 0.616; 95% CI: 0.567–0.665; p < 0.001). Additionally, the gray zone was even larger, ranging from 5 mm Hg to 12 mm Hg, and included 349 patients (67.4%).ConclusionsCVP may be a helpful indicator of acute RV dysfunction patients with systemic venous congestion in mechanically ventilated critically ill, but its accuracy is limited. A CVP less than10 mm Hg can almost rule out RV dysfunction with congestion. In contrast, CVP should not be used to identify general RV dysfunction.

Decreased right ventricular function after coronary artery bypass grafting and its relation to exercise capacity: A tricuspid annular motion–based study

BackgroundArterial stiffness is a well-established predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality. However, its relationship with right ventricular (RV) function in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between aortic augmentation index (AIx), a marker of arterial stiffness, and RV dysfunction in CAD patients.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 121 patients with stable CAD or acute coronary syndrome who underwent coronary angiography were enrolled. AIx was measured using radial artery applanation tonometry. Comprehensive echocardiography was performed to assess RV function using conventional and speckle-tracking derived parameters. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between AIx and RV function, adjusting for potential confounders.ResultsPatients with high AIx (> 80%, n = 53) had significantly worse RV systolic function compared to those with normal AIx (≤ 80%, n = 68), as evidenced by lower tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), fractional area change (FAC), RV free wall longitudinal strain (RVLS), and RV systolic velocity (RV S’) (all P < 0.05). AIx correlated negatively with TAPSE (r=-0.421), FAC (r=-0.376), RVLS (r=-0.428), and RV S’ (r=-0.355) (all P < 0.001), and positively with pulmonary artery systolic pressure (r = 0.467, P < 0.001) and pulmonary vascular resistance (r = 0.297, P = 0.001). In multivariable analyses, AIx remained an independent predictor of RV dysfunction (adjusted odds ratio 3.42, 95% confidence interval 1.56–7.51, P = 0.002) after adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking, left ventricular ejection fraction, and Gensini score.ConclusionsIncreased aortic stiffness assessed by AIx is independently associated with RV dysfunction in patients with CAD. This association is evident across multiple echocardiographic parameters of RV systolic function and is independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, left ventricular systolic function, and the extent of coronary artery disease. Our findings suggest that arterial stiffness may play a role in the development of RV dysfunction in CAD patients and highlight the potential importance of assessing and targeting arterial stiffness in this population.

Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is common in heart failure and is an important predictor of prognosis and mortality. Less attention has been paid to right ventricular (RV) diastolic function. In this study, we compared RV diastolic function in a large cohort of patients with heart failure (HF) with two groups: patients with pulmonary hypertension and normal LV function (the PHT group) and normal subjects. Transtricuspid and pulmonary artery flow were assessed by two-dimensional Doppler echocardiography at maximum inspiration and expiration in 185 subjects: 114 symptomatic HF patients (ejection fraction < 0.5), 31 PHT patients (pulmonary artery systolic pressure > 40 mm Hg), and 40 normal subjects. A subset was matched for age and heart rate. The results showed a high prevalence of RV diastolic abnormalities: HF patients had lower tricuspid E-A ratios, lower peak E-wave velocity, and prolonged RV isovolumic relaxation time (all P< .0001). Tricuspid E-wave deceleration time was significantly shorter only in those who had an LV restrictive filling pattern. The PHT group had similar findings. Compared with a normal range, more than half of the patients had lower tricuspid E-A ratios (HF, 55%; PHT, 69%), and 61% of HF and 58% of PHT patients had a prolonged RV isovolumic relaxation time. In the PHT group, RV diastolic parameters (E-wave deceleration time, E-A ratio, and isovolumic relaxation time) correlated significantly with pulmonary artery systolic pressure (P< .05). In the HF group, however, only tricuspid E-wave deceleration time correlated significantly with pulmonary artery systolic pressure, and HF patients with normal pulmonary artery systolic pressures had significantly lower tricuspid E-A ratios and prolonged RV isovolumic relaxation times compared with normal subjects. A close correlation existed between individual RV and LV diastolic parameters, suggesting that LV diastolic dysfunction may directly affect RV function, but there was no relation between LV size or systolic function and RV diastolic dysfunction. RV diastolic function is frequently abnormal in HF patients, and this is not related to elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure alone, although high pulmonary artery pressure by itself also is associated with impaired RV diastolic function. Assessment of the role of right ventricular diastolic function in determining the symptoms and prognosis of heart failure is warranted.

Introduction: Left ventricular (LV) dysfunction is observed after right ventricular (RV) pacing from both apical and septal positions. Hypothesis: The primary aim of this study was to assess the impact of RV mid-septal pacing upon RV function using the novel parameter of speckle-tracking derived RV global longitudinal strain (RVGLS), as well as the conventional parameters RV fractional area change (FAC), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and tricuspid annular systolic velocity (RV S’). Secondary aims included assessing the impact on LV function and the correlation of pacing burden with echocardiographic parameters. Methods: Thirty-two consecutive patients (mean age 75 ± 10 years) with normal baseline LV and RV function requiring permanent pacemaker insertion were prospectively recruited at a tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia. 3 patients were excluded due to poor image quality. Echocardiography was performed prior to implantation, at 1-day, 1-month and 1-year post-implantation, with 29 patients completing follow-up. Results: Compared to 1-day post-implantation, at 1-year a significant decline was noted in mean RV S’ (15.1 to 12.2cm/s), TAPSE (24.2 to 21.9mm), RV GLS (-24.8 to -21.8%), LVEF (66.0 to 57.9%), LV GLS (-19.9 to 17.0), all p &lt;0.01. There was no change in RV FAC (49.1 to 46.9%). Fourteen patients (44%) required a high proportion of ventricular pacing, defined as ≥10% at 1 year. These patients had a greater deterioration in RVGLS (5.0 vs 1.0%) and LVGLS (4.6 vs 0.68%), p &lt;0.05. Changes in RV S’ (3.1 vs 2.7cm/s), TAPSE (1.5 vs 3.1mm), RV FAC (1.9 vs 5.64%) and LVEF (9.5 vs 5.6%) were not significantly different from those in patients with &lt;10% ventricular pacing. Conclusions: RV and LV systolic function declined in all patients after 1 year of RV septal pacing. Further, patients with a high burden of ventricular pacing had a larger deterioration in RVGLS and LVGLS. Myocardial strain may be more useful than conventional echo parameters in detecting RV and LV dysfunction associated with RV septal pacing.

Introduction: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction can occur after cardiac surgery. Although the exact mechanism is not well understood, it has been suggested to be associated with pericardial incision as well as other factors related to cardiac surgery. Speckle Tracking Echocardiography was performed to assess RV systolic and diastolic function before and after cardiac surgery. Methods: RV speckle tracking was performed by transthoracic echocardiography before (mean 20.4hrs ±27) and after surgery (mean 47hrs ±33) in 50 patients (mean age 67.2 years ±12, 64% male) undergoing a variety of cardiac operations: 3 coronary artery bypass grafts, 12 aortic valve replacement, 3 mitral or aortic valve mass removal, 16 open and 16 robotic-assisted minimally-invasive mitral valve repair. The following strain parameters were measured: systolic function parameters include RV free wall longitudinal strain (RV LS) and strain rate (RV LSR), and diastolic function parameter RV free wall longitudinal early strain rate relaxation (RV LSRe). Results: RV systolic function assessed by speckle tracking was significantly reduced after cardiac surgery: RV longitudinal strain -25.3% to -15.5% (p<0.001), RV longitudinal strain rate -1.5 to -0.94 (p<0.001). RV diastolic function assessed by speckle tracking was similarly reduced: RV longitudinal strain rate early relaxation 1.4 to 0.92 (p<0.001). Conventional assessment methods of RV function also showed significant reductions: TAPSE 24.7mm to 13.4mm (p<0.001), Tricuspid valve S’ 0.14m/s to 0.08m/s (p<0.001), RIMP 0.39 to 0.54 (p<0.001), RV E:e’ 4.3 to 7.2 (p<0.001). RV fractional area change, E:A ratio and RV systolic pressure estimation did not significantly change. There was no significant association for the reduction in RV systolic or diastolic function assessed by speckle tracking (RV LS, RV LSR, RV LSRe) with echo-based RV peak systolic pulmonary artery pressures, cross clamp or bypass time, time to extubation, vasoactive requirement or number of days in hospital. The association between the reduction in RV longitudinal strain and whether surgery was minimally invasive approached significance (p=0.055), with minimally invasive surgery having a smaller reduction in strain values. Conclusions: RV systolic and diastolic function decreases significantly after cardiac surgery. This reduction is independent of echo-based RV peak systolic artery pressure estimation, cross-clamp or bypass time, vasoactive requirements, intubation time or number of days in hospital. RV longitudinal strain reduction may be smaller if surgery is minimally invasive supporting the concept that RV dysfunction is associated with the size of pericardial incision. Larger studies are warranted to extend this finding.

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction occurs following lung resection and is associated with post-operative complications and long-term functional morbidity. Accurate peri-operative assessment of RV function would have utility in this population. The difficulties of transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE) assessment of RV function may be compounded following lung resection surgery, and no parameters have been validated in this patient group. This study compares conventional TTE methods for assessing RV systolic function to a reference method in a lung resection population. Right ventricular index of myocardial performance (RIMP), fractional area change (FAC), tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) and S′ wave velocity at the tricuspid annulus (S′), along with speckle tracked global and free wall longitudinal strain (RV-GPLS and RV-FWPLS respectively) are compared with RV ejection fraction obtained by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (RVEFCMR). Twenty-seven patients undergoing lung resection underwent contemporaneous CMR and TTE imaging; pre-operatively, on post-operative day two and at 2 months. Ability of each of the parameters to predict RV dysfunction (RVEFCMR <45%) was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROCC). RIMP, FAC and S′ demonstrated no predictive value for poor RV function (AUROCC <0.61, P > 0.05). TAPSE performed marginally better with an AUROCC of 0.65 (P = 0.04). RV-GPLS and RV-FWPLS demonstrated good predictive ability with AUROCC’s of 0.74 and 0.76 respectively (P < 0.01 for both). This study demonstrates that the conventional TTE parameters of RV systolic function are inadequate following lung resection. Longitudinal strain performs better and offers some ability to determine poor RV function in this challenging population.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare disease characterized by diffuse cystic lesions of the lung. The present study was designed to evaluate the right ventricular (RV) function in LAM patients via single-beat real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT-3DE) and to investigate the factors affecting RV function in LAM patients. According to tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRV), forty-five female LAM patients [(44.07 ± 10.22) years old] were divided into TRV ≤ 2.8m/s group (n = 29) and TRV > 2.8m/s group (n = 16). Relative echocardiography parameters were assessed by conventional transthoracic echocardiography, Doppler tissue imaging (DTI) and RT-3DE, respectively. Pulmonary function tests and the six-minute walk tests (SMWT) were also performed for LAM patients. We found that most of RV functional parameters in LAM patients were worse than that in control patients, although left ventricular dysfunction was not significantly observed. Correlation analysis showed that 3D echocardiographic RV ejection fraction (RVEF) was negatively correlated with pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), TRV, and the decrease of oxygen saturation (SpO2) post SMWT, and positively correlated with Forced expiratory volume in the first second/forced vital capacity, carbon monoxide diffusion predicted value, SMWT distance, and resting SpO2 in LAM patients. Multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis showed that PVR and SpO2 before SMWT were independent influence factors of RVEF in LAM patients. In this study, we found that RV dysfunction was presented in LAM patients, although left ventricular dysfunction was not significantly obvious. The main influence factors of RVEF were PVR and hypoxia. RT-3DE is a low-cost and noninvasive way to evaluate RV function in LAM patients.

Biventricular stimulation improves right and left ventricular function after tetralogy of Fallot repair: Acute animal and clinical studies

(1) Background: In propionic acidemia (PA), myocardial involvement often leads to progressive cardiac dysfunction of the left ventricle (LV). Cardiomyopathy (CM) is an important contributor to mortality. Although known to be of prognostic value in CM, there are no published data on right ventricular (RV) function in PA patients. (2) Methods: In this cross-sectional single-center study, systolic and diastolic RV function of PA patients was assessed by echocardiography, including frequency, onset, and combinations of echocardiographic parameters, as well as correlations to LV size and function. (3) Results: N = 18 patients were enrolled. Tricuspid annulus S’ was abnormal in 16.7%, RV-longitudinal strain in 11.1%, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) in 11.1%, Tricuspid valve (TV) E/e’ in 33.3%, and TV E/A in 16.7%. The most prevalent combinations of pathological parameters were TV E/A + TV E/e’ and TAPSE + TV S’. With age, the probability of developing abnormal RV function increases according to age-dependent normative data. There is a significant correlation between TAPSE and mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE), and RV/LV-longitudinal strain (p ≤ 0.05). N = 5 individuals died 1.94 years (mean) after cardiac evaluation for this study, and all had abnormal RV functional parameters. (4) Conclusions: Signs of diastolic RV dysfunction can be found in up to one third of individuals, and systolic RV dysfunction in 16.7% of individuals in our cohort. RV function is impaired in PA patients with a poor outcome. RV functional parameters should be used to complement clinical and left ventricular echocardiographic findings.

The impact of pulmonary embolism on right ventricular (RV) performance can be evaluated by echocardiography, however, the relationship between pulmonary vascular involvement and RV burden is controversial. To assess the effect of clot burden on RV performance we studied 85 patients (aged 53 ± 17 years, 39 female) with confirmed PE by multislice computed tomography (CT) and echocardiography within 24 h of diagnosis. A CT score ranging from 1 to 20 points according to the pulmonary arteries involved was used. RV function was evaluated with fractional area change (FAC), with dysfunction present when FAC < 40%. Tissue Doppler RV systolic (s') velocities and myocardial performance index (MPI) were obtained, as well as pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). Mean CT score was 9.4 ± 6.7. Only 31 out of 85 patients (37%) presented with RV dysfunction, with FAC measuring 27.8 ± 7.2% in patients with dysfunction compared to 47.8 ± 4.4 for those with preserved RV function (p < 0.05). RV dysfunction was associated to older age, higher CT scores, increased pulmonary pressures and MPI and decreased s' (p < 0.001). An inverse correlation with CT clot burden was found for FAC (r = -0.57), whereas a direct correlation was seen for PAP (r = 0.51) and MPI (0.32). No correlation was observed for tissue Doppler velocities. In patients with acute PE, the effect of clot burden on RV performance is better expressed FAC than tissue Doppler indexes; the increase in pulmonary pressure is proportional to the magnitude of obstruction.

Right Ventricular Systolic Function Responses to Acute and Chronic Pulmonary Hypertension: Assessment with Myocardial Deformation