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Updated: May 23, 2026
Morphological and Functional Assessment of the Right Ventricle Using 3D Echocardiography
Published on: October 28, 2020
Right ventricular outflow tract systolic excursion: a novel echocardiographic parameter of right ventricular function
Ihab Asmer1, Salim Adawi, Majdi Ganaeem
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, and the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 7 Michal Street, Haifa 34362, Israel.
Aims:
Right ventricular (RV) function has important prognostic and therapeutic implications. Assessment of RV function using echocardiography is challenging. The aim of this study was to evaluate a new parameter of RV function, right ventricular outflow tract systolic excursion (RVOT_SE).
Methods And Results:
RVOT_SE was measured using M-Mode echocardiography from the parasternal short-axis view at the level of the aortic valve, and was defined as the systolic excursion of the RVOT anterior wall. RVOT_SE was measured in 50 patients (age 64 ± 18 years, 28 males) with normal RV function [RV fractional area change (FAC) ≥35% and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) ≥1.6 cm] and 40 patients (age 68 ± 12 years, 35 males) with reduced RV function (RV FAC <35% and TAPSE <1.6 cm). R.V FAC was 46 ± 7% in the normal RV group and 22 ± 5% in the reduced RV group (P < 0.0001). TAPSE was 2.2 ± 0.4 cm in the normal RV group and 1.0 ± 0.2 cm in the reduced RV group (P < 0.0001). RVOT_SE was 9.6 ± 1.5 mm in the normal RV group and 1.7 ± 1.1 mm in the reduced RV group (P < 0.0001). RVOT_SE <6 mm identified patients with reduced RV function with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Survival at 1 year was 63% in patients with RVOT_SE <6 mm and 84% in patients with RVOT_SE ≥6 mm, P = 0.004.
Conclusion:
RVOT_SE is a novel, simple, and promising parameter for assessing RV function, and it is associated with poor survival.
