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Dandel M. Monitoring of the right ventricular responses to pressure overload: prognostic value and usefulness of echocardiography for clinical decision-making. Cardiovasc Diagn Ther 2024; 14:193-222. [PMID: 38434557 PMCID: PMC10904302 DOI: 10.21037/cdt-23-380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 12/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Regardless of whether pulmonary hypertension (PH) results from increased pulmonary venous pressure in left-sided heart diseases or from vascular remodeling and/or obstructions in pre-capillary pulmonary vessels, overload-induced right ventricular (RV) dysfunction and its final transition into right-sided heart failure is a major cause of death in PH patients. Being particularly suited for non-invasive monitoring of the right-sided heart, echocardiography has become a useful tool for optimizing the therapeutic decision-making and evaluation of therapy results in PH. The review provides an updated overview on the pathophysiological insights of heart-lung interactions in PH of different etiology, as well as on the diagnostic and prognostic value of echocardiography for monitoring RV responses to pressure overload. The article focuses particularly on the usefulness of echocardiography for predicting life-threatening aggravation of RV dysfunction in transplant candidates with precapillary PH, as well as for preoperative prediction of post-operative RV failure in patients with primary end-stage left ventricular (LV) failure necessitating heart transplantation or a LV assist device implantation. In transplant candidates with refractory pulmonary arterial hypertension, a timely prediction of impending RV decompensation can contribute to reduce both the mortality risk on the transplant list and the early post-transplant complications caused by severe RV dysfunction, and also to avoid combined heart-lung transplantation. The review also focuses on the usefulness of echocardiography for monitoring the right-sided heart in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, particularly in those with refractory respiratory failure requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Given the pathophysiologic particularity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection to be associated with a high incidence of thrombotic microangiopathy-induced increase in the pulmonary resistance, echocardiography can improve the selection of temporary mechanical cardio-respiratory support strategies and can therefore contribute to the reduction of mortality rates. On the whole, the review aims to provide a theoretical and practical basis for those who are or intend in the future to be engaged in this highly demanding field.
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Bjerregaard CL, Biering-Sørensen T, Skaarup KG, Sengeløv M, Lassen MCH, Johansen ND, Olsen FJ. Right Ventricular Function in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy: Potential Value of Strain Echocardiography. J Clin Med 2024; 13:717. [PMID: 38337410 PMCID: PMC10856386 DOI: 10.3390/jcm13030717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy is an inherited cardiomyopathy, characterized by abnormal cell adhesions, disrupted intercellular signaling, and fibrofatty replacement of the myocardium. These changes serve as a substrate for ventricular arrhythmias, placing patients at risk of sudden cardiac death, even in the early stages of the disease. Current echocardiographic criteria for diagnosing arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy lack sensitivity, but novel markers of cardiac deformation are not subject to the same technical limitations as current guideline-recommended measures. Measuring cardiac deformation using speckle tracking allows for meticulous quantification of global systolic function, regional function, and dyssynchronous contraction. Consequently, speckle tracking to quantify myocardial strain could potentially be useful in the diagnostic process for the determination of disease progression and to assist risk stratification for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. This narrative review provides an overview of the potential use of different myocardial right ventricular strain measures for characterizing right ventricular dysfunction in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and its utility in assessing the risk of ventricular arrhythmias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Løkke Bjerregaard
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; (C.L.B.)
- Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Tor Biering-Sørensen
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; (C.L.B.)
- Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Rigshospitalet, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, 2730 Herlev, Denmark
| | - Kristoffer Grundtvig Skaarup
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; (C.L.B.)
- Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Morten Sengeløv
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; (C.L.B.)
- Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mats Christian Højbjerg Lassen
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; (C.L.B.)
- Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Niklas Dyrby Johansen
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; (C.L.B.)
- Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Flemming Javier Olsen
- Department of Cardiology, Copenhagen University Hospital—Herlev and Gentofte, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark; (C.L.B.)
- Center for Translational Cardiology and Pragmatic Randomized Trials, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
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