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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Assessment of Right Ventricular Structure and Function in Mouse Model of Pulmonary Artery Constriction by Transthoracic Echocardiography
Published on: February 3, 2014
Echocardiographic evaluation of right ventricular function in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia
Renata Bokiniec1, Paweł Własienko2, Maria Borszewska-Kornacka1
1Neonatal and Intensive Care Department, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Aim:
To evaluate right ventricular function in preterm infants with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Methods:
Eighty-nine preterm infants (<32 weeks) were divided into three groups: (1) no-bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n=32); (2) mild-bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n=35); (3) severe-bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n=15). Right ventricular echocardiographic parameters included the following: (1) pulsed-wave Doppler through the tricuspid valve (E/A ratio), pulmonary artery acceleration time, right ventricular ejection time, right ventricular velocity-time integral; (2) tissue Doppler measurements of myocardial velocities and atrioventricular conduction times; (3) pulsed-wave Doppler and tissue Doppler evaluation of myocardial performance index and E/E' ratio; and (4) M-mode detection of right ventricular end-diastolic wall diameter.
Results:
The severe-bronchopulmonary dysplasia group had higher mean right ventricular myocardial performance index (on the 28th day of life by pulsed-wave Doppler) than the no-bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P=.014) or mild-bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P=.031) groups; no differences were found between no-bronchopulmonary dysplasia and mild-bronchopulmonary dysplasia groups (P=.919). A reduction in right ventricular myocardial performance index at later time points was observed in all three groups (P<.05). We found no differences between preterm infants with differing bronchopulmonary dysplasia severity in other right ventricular echocardiographic parameters.
Conclusion:
Right ventricular myocardial performance index measured by pulsed-wave Doppler indicates impaired right ventricular function in preterm infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
