Diagnostics (Mar 2021)

Forgotten No More—The Role of Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: An Echocardiographic Perspective

  • Aura Vijiiac,
  • Sebastian Onciul,
  • Claudia Guzu,
  • Alina Scarlatescu,
  • Ioana Petre,
  • Diana Zamfir,
  • Roxana Onut,
  • Silvia Deaconu,
  • Maria Dorobantu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11030548
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 3
p. 548

Abstract

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During the last decade, studies have raised awareness of the crucial role that the right ventricle plays in various clinical settings, including diseases primarily linked to the left ventricle. The assessment of right ventricular performance with conventional echocardiography is challenging. Novel echocardiographic techniques improve the functional assessment of the right ventricle and they show good correlation with the gold standard represented by cardiac magnetic resonance. This review summarizes the traditional and innovative echocardiographic techniques used in the functional assessment of the right ventricle, focusing on the role of right ventricular dysfunction in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and providing a perspective on recent evidence from literature.

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