Page 62 - Assessing right ventricular function and the pulmonary circulation in pulmonary hypertension Onno Anthonius Spruijt

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Abstract
Irrespective of its cause, pulmonary hypertension (PH) leads to an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance. Failing adaption of the right ventricle (RV) to the increased afterload is the main cause of death in PH patients and therefore monitoring RV function during treatment is essential. However, consensus on the optimal method for serial assessment of RV function is lacking and therefore the major clinical trials on PH specific therapies have not provided clear answers with respect to the response of the RV to treatment. This short review will give an overview of the most important load- dependent and load-independent parameters to assess RV response to therapy in PH patients.