scholarly journals Transthoracic echocardiographic assessment of the right ventricle before and after caesarean delivery: A preliminary investigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-149
Author(s):  
Abirami Kumaresan ◽  
Alexander D Shapeton ◽  
Hong-mei Yuan ◽  
Philip E Hess

Transthoracic echocardiographic evaluation of the right ventricle is more difficult than the left ventricle and has not been well characterised in the parturient during delivery. As a preliminary investigation, our goal was to use bedside transthoracic echocardiography to evaluate right ventricular myocardial function before and after caesarean delivery. Term parturients undergoing caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia were enrolled. Echocardiography was performed pre- and postoperatively. Assessment of myocardial function included longitudinal myocardial strain using 2D-speckle tracking for both ventricles, and fractional area change for the right ventricle. Troponin-T, creatine kinase-muscle/brain and brain natriuretic peptide were measured pre- and postoperatively. One hundred patients were enrolled; 98 completed the study. Adequate images from both timepoints (pre- and postoperatively) were obtained in 85 patients for left ventricle assessment, and 66 for the right ventricle. Right ventricular fractional area change (mean (standard deviation)) (24.9% (8.9%) to 24.9% (9.2%); P = 0.99) and strain (−19.7% (6.8%) to −18.1% (6.5%); P = 0.08) measurements suggested mild baseline dysfunction and did not change after delivery. Left ventricular strain values were normal and unchanged after delivery (−23.8% (7.4%) to −24.3% (6.7%); P = 0.51). One patient had elevated troponin-T and demonstrated worse biventricular function. Elevation of brain natriuretic peptide ( n=7) was associated with mildly decreased left ventricular strain, but creatine kinase-muscle/brain ( n=4) was not associated with consistent changes in cardiac function. Further investigations into peripartum right ventricular function are required to validate the findings in this preliminary study. Findings of baseline mild right ventricular dysfunction and functional changes associated with troponin-T and brain natriuretic peptide warrant rigorous investigation.

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 396-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas S. Mir ◽  
Jan Falkenberg ◽  
Bernd Friedrich ◽  
Urda Gottschalk ◽  
Throng Phi Lê ◽  
...  

Objective:To evaluate the role of the concentration of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma, and its correlation with haemodynamic right ventricular parameters, in children with overload of the right ventricle due to congenital cardiac disease.Methods:We studied 31 children, with a mean age of 4.8 years, with volume or pressure overload of the right ventricle caused by congenital cardiac disease. Of the patients, 19 had undergone surgical biventricular correction of tetralogy of Fallot, 11 with pulmonary stenosis and 8 with pulmonary atresia, and 12 patients were studied prior to operations, 7 with atrial septal defects and 5 with anomalous pulmonary venous connections. We measured brain natriuretic peptide using Triage®, from Biosite, United States of America. We determined end-diastolic pressures of the right ventricle, and the peak ratio of right to left ventricular pressures, by cardiac catheterization and correlated them with concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma.Results:The mean concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide were 87.7, with a range from 5 to 316, picograms per millilitre. Mean end-diastolic pressure in the right ventricle was 5.6, with a range from 2 to 10, millimetres of mercury, and the mean ratio of right to left ventricular pressure was 0.56, with a range from 0.24 to 1.03. There was a positive correlation between the concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide and the ratio of right to left ventricular pressure (r equal to 0.7844, p less than 0.0001) in all patients. These positive correlations remained when the children with tetralogy of Fallot, and those with atrial septal defects or anomalous pulmonary venous connection, were analysed as separate groups. We also found a weak correlation was shown between end-diastolic right ventricular pressure and concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma (r equal to 0.5947, p equal to 0.0004).Conclusion:There is a significant correlation between right ventricular haemodynamic parameters and concentrations of brain natriuretic peptide in the plasma of children with right ventricular overload due to different types of congenital cardiac disease. The monitoring of brain natriuretic peptide may provide a non-invasive and safe quantitative follow up of the right ventricular pressure and volume overload in these patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Stefanović Nešković ◽  
Anđelka Ristić ◽  
Milan Petronijević ◽  
Aleksandra Zeljković ◽  
Aleksandra Grdinić ◽  
...  

SummaryBackground:Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease which affects various tissues and organs, including skin, lungs, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system. Cardiac involvement is the most commonly recognized problem and a significant cause of morbidity. The brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a previously known marker of elevated cardiovascular risk in SSc, but the levels of BNP in various forms of SSc have not been investigated so far.Aim:The aim of our study was to evaluate the influence of SSc on the function of the right ventricle and the right atrium using the echocardiographic parameters. Moreover, we examined the levels of BNP in different forms of SSc as well as the association of disease severity with the plasma concentrations of BNP.Methods:We included 42 patients with newly diagnosed SSc and patients whose disease had been diagnosed earlier. SSc patients and non-SSc control patients were examined by using echocardiography and the concentrations of BNP were determined.Results:We analyzed differences in the parameters of right ventricle (RV) function and right atrium (RA) function between SSc patients and healthy controls. The two groups had similar distribution of gender, but SSc patients were significantly older than controls. RV wall thickness was increased in SSc patients (p<0.001), while right ventricular end-systolic area (RVESA; p=0.408) and right ventricular end-diastolic area (RVEDA; p=0.368) did not differ among the examinees. In contrast, RA minor-axis dimension (p=0.001) and the tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) (p=0.001) were significantly higher in SSc patients. Also, we analyzed differences in brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations between diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (DSSc) and limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (LSSc) patients. DSSc patients had significantly higher concentrations of BNP. We found that levels of BNP were in significant positive correlations with age (p=0.007), disease duration (p=0.023), C reactive protein (CRP) (p=0.032), right ventricle fractional area change (FAC) (p=0.022), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and Rodnan score (p=0.019).Conclusions:Given the obtained results, the laboratory determination of BNP could be useful in differentiating different forms of systemic sclerosis as well as in predicting the severity of the disease and future cardiovascular complications.


Medicina ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 706
Author(s):  
Kamila Marika Cygulska ◽  
Łukasz Figiel ◽  
Dariusz Sławek ◽  
Małgorzata Wraga ◽  
Marek Dąbrowa ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Resistance to ASA (ASAres) is a multifactorial phenomenon defined as insufficient reduction of platelet reactivity through incomplete inhibition of thromboxane A2 synthesis. The aim is to reassess the prevalence and predictors of ASAres in a contemporary cohort of coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (pts) on stable therapy with ASA, 75 mg o.d. Materials and Methods: We studied 205 patients with stable CAD treated with daily dose of 75 mg ASA for a minimum of one month. ASAres was defined as ARU (aspirin reaction units) ≥550 using the point-of-care VerifyNow Aspirin test. Results: ASAres was detected in 11.7% of patients. Modest but significant correlations were detected between ARU and concentration of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) (r = 0.144; p = 0.04), body weight, body mass index, red blood cell distribution width, left ventricular mass, and septal end-systolic thickness, with trends for left ventricular mass index and prothrombin time. In multivariate regression analysis, log(NT-proBNP) was identified as the only independent predictor of ARU—partial r = 0.15, p = 0.03. Median concentrations of NT-proBNP were significantly higher in ASAres patients (median value 311.4 vs. 646.3 pg/mL; p = 0.046) and right ventricular diameter was larger, whereas mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration was lower as compared to patients with adequate response to ASA. Conclusions: ASAres has significant prevalence in this contemporary CAD cohort and NT-proBNP has been identified as the independent correlate of on-treatment ARU, representing a predictor for ASAres, along with right ventricular enlargement and lower hemoglobin concentration in erythrocytes.


Circulation ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 116 (suppl_16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven E Lipshultz ◽  
Stuart R Lipsitz ◽  
Rebecca E Scully ◽  
Tracie L Miller ◽  
Elly Barry ◽  
...  

Background: Doxorubicin damages heart muscle, placing long-term survivors of childhood cancer at elevated risk of cardiac dysfunction. N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), an independent predictor of mortality and cardiovascular events in other populations, may serve to indicate cardiomyopathy prior to irreversible damage in this population. Methods: To determine the diagnostic value of NT-proBNP in children receiving doxorubicin, the NCI Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ALL Consortium collected serial serum samples and echocardiograms from children with ALL between 1995 and 2000 randomized to receive doxorubicin alone (dox; n = 74; 1203 samples; median age = 6.4 yrs; 30 mg/m 2 /dose for 10 doses) or doxorubicin preceded by the cardioprotectant dexrazoxane (dex/dox; n = 80; 1338 samples; median age = 7.1 yrs; 300 mg/m 2 /dose). Results: Marked NT-proBNP elevation (NT-proBNP ≥ 100 pg/ml if age ≥ 1; proBNP ≥ 150 pg/ml if age > 1) was seen at baseline (treatment day 0; dox alone = 82.5% of patients abnormal; dex/dox = 87.4%; p = 0.527). During treatment, the percentage of patients with abnormal NT-proBNP levels fell to a minimum of 35.8% in the dox only group and 16.4% in the dex/dox group ( p < 0.001) before rising progressively at the end of treatment (treatment day 220; dox only = 70.8%; dex/dox = 5.3%; p < 0.001). After controlling for treatment, a patient with abnormal NT-proBNP six months after the start of doxorubicin had 2.39 times the odds of having myocardial injury as indicated by elevated cardiac troponin T (cTnT ≥0.01 ng/mL; OR = 2.39; 95%CI 1.156 - 4.946; p = 0.019). Further, at any given time and for either treatment, a patient with abnormal NT-proBNP had 2.36 times the odds of having abnormal LV fractional shortening (OR = 2.36; 95%CI 1.026 - 5.449; p = 0.047). Conclusion: Elevated serum NT-proBNP was significantly related to cumulative unprotected doxorubicin dose, left ventricular fractional shortening, and cTnT during doxorubicin therapy. A much higher percentage of patients exhibited levels of NT-proBNP suggestive of cardiomyopathy than showed death of cardiomyocytes as indicated by elevated cTnT levels. This might allow the testing of individualized preventative therapy for cancer patients at high risk for long-term cardiotoxicity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 572-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nolwenn Samson ◽  
Roxane Paulin

Right ventricular failure (RVF) is the most important prognostic factor for both morbidity and mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), but also occurs in numerous other common diseases and conditions, including left ventricle dysfunction. RVF remains understudied compared with left ventricular failure (LVF). However, right and left ventricles have many differences at the morphological level or the embryologic origin, and respond differently to pressure overload. Therefore, knowledge from the left ventricle cannot be extrapolated to the right ventricle. Few studies have focused on the right ventricle and have permitted to increase our knowledge on the right ventricular-specific mechanisms driving decompensation. Here we review basic principles such as mechanisms accounting for right ventricle hypertrophy, dysfunction, and transition toward failure, with a focus on epigenetics, inflammatory, and metabolic processes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Bortolo Martini ◽  
Nicola Trevisi ◽  
Nicolò Martini ◽  
Li Zhang

A 43-year-old woman presented to the emergency room with a sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT). ECG showed a QRS in left bundle branch block morphology with inferior axis. Echocardiography, ventricular angiography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) revealed a normal right ventricle and a left ventricular diverticulum. Electrophysiology studies with epicardial voltage mapping identified a large fibrotic area in the inferolateral layer of the right ventricular wall and a small area of fibrotic tissue at the anterior right ventricular outflow tract. VT ablation was successfully performed with combined epicardial and endocardial approaches.


1993 ◽  
Vol 265 (6) ◽  
pp. H2099-H2109 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Krams ◽  
L. K. Soei ◽  
E. O. McFalls ◽  
E. A. Winkler Prins ◽  
L. M. Sassen ◽  
...  

Regional end-systolic pressure-segment length relationships (ESPSLR) were used to compare the degree of right and left ventricular stunning induced by a 10-min occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery and the response to subsequent atrial pacing (50 beats/min above intrinsic heart rate) without and with dobutamine (2 micrograms.kg-1.min-1) in nine anesthetized open-chest pigs. From the ESPSLR, the slope (Ees) (at 100 mmHg for the left and 25 mmHg for the right ventricle) and the total area of the pressure-length relationship (PLA) were determined. From the latter, the distribution into external work (EW) and potential energy (PE) as well as the efficiency of energy transfer (EET = EW/PLA) were calculated. In both the stunned left and right ventricular myocardium Ees and EW were reduced according to the same linear regression equations (delta Ees = 0.7 Ees,baseline - 11.4, r2 = 0.86 and delta EW = 0.4 EWbaseline + 2.3, r2 = 0.67), where Ees,baseline and EWbaseline are Ees and EW at baseline, respectively. EET of the stunned left and right ventricular segments decreased as PLA remained unchanged, due to an increase in PE. EET decreased from 0.84 +/- 0.02 to 0.71 +/- 0.03 (P < 0.05) in the stunned right ventricular segment and from 0.71 +/- 0.02 to 0.44 +/- 0.03 (P < 0.05) in the stunned left ventricular segment. Atrial pacing did not affect EET with respect to stunning levels, whereas the additional infusion of dobutamine restored Ees, EW, and PE and consequently EET to baseline values. In conclusion, the right ventricle is susceptible to stunning. During atrial pacing the EET was lower than expected from the Ees, which could, in agreement with the time-varying elastance concept, be explained by an increase in afterload (a consequence of the decrease in stroke volume). Dobutamine not only increased Ees, EW, and EET but also restored the relationship between Ees and EET in both ventricular stunned segments.


1987 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 733-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. G. Waldrop ◽  
D. C. Mullins

Previous reports have shown that activation of left ventricular receptors with sympathetic afferents elicits increases in respiratory output and arterial pressure. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether similar responses are produced by chemical activation of epicardial receptors in the right ventricle. Receptors were stimulated by applying either capsaicin (10 micrograms) or bradykinin (500 ng) to the epicardial surface of the right ventricle in anesthetized cats. Application of either chemical evoked an increase in respiratory output (phrenic nerve activity), a decrease in heart rate, and a nonsignificant increase in arterial pressure in intact cats. However, capsaicin and bradykinin produced significant increases in arterial pressure, heart rate, and respiratory output after bilateral cervical vagotomy. In contrast, a fall in both heart rate and arterial pressure with only small increases in respiratory output were evoked after bilateral removal of the stellate ganglia in cats with intact vagi. Only small responses to the chemical stimulation of right ventricular receptors persisted after combined vagotomy and stellate ganglionectomy. These findings suggest that 1) activation of epicardial receptors with sympathetic afferents originating in the right ventricle causes an increase in cardiorespiratory function, and 2) activation of right ventricular receptors with vagal afferents produces decreases in heart rate and arterial pressure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Wojtkowska ◽  
R Zarczuk ◽  
W Brzozowski ◽  
S Lukasik ◽  
M Tomaszewski ◽  
...  

Abstract Hypertrophy of the right ventricle (RV) in the course of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is found in 30-60% of cases, with the possibility of a right ventricular outflow tract obstruction (RVOTO), obstruction in the apex or the middle part of the right ventricle. A patient, aged 41, admitted due to limitation of exercise tolerance, effort dyspnea, presyncope. In an echocardiogram, interventricular septum (IVS) hypertrophy was observed up to 2.0 cm; normal size of the heart cavities; normal left ventricular systolic function (EF-70%). A color doppler mapping detected the zone of flow acceleraction and turbulent flow in right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT), next a spectral doppler examination showed the RVOT obstruction with a maximal gradient of 64 mmHg. Because of the suboptimal echocardiographic imaging, a heart CT scan was performed, revealing the features of left ventricular hypertrophy, most severe at the base and the medium part of IVS (up to 25 mm). Asymmetric hypertrophy of the middle portion of the right ventricle and right ventricular outflow tract obstruction was also observed. A hemodynamic study confirmed the presence of gradient in RVOT, up to 40 mmHg. Holter electrocardiogram recorded an episode of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. Taking into account the clinical picture, the family history of the disease, and calculated HCM Risk SCD (7.55%), the decision was made to implant a dual chamber cardioverter defibrillator. The defibrillator electrode was fixed at the apex of the right ventricle. A short AV delay was programmed for prevalent right ventricular stimulation (AV delay 100 ms), resulting in 99.6% ventricular stimulation. The control echocardiogram showed a reduction in the maximum gradient in RVOT to 24 mmHg. In addition, the patient was treated with a beta-blocker. To sum up, in the case of HCM we should always examine the RV with color and spectral doppler to exclude potential narrowing in RV. Constant AV sequential stimulation with a short AV delay is a recognized method that can be considered in symptomatic adult HCM patients with a left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. In the case described here, the above mentioned method proved effective in the significant reduction of the gradient in the right ventricular outflow tract. Abstract 113 Figure. gradient in RVOT


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document