Right ventricular function during and after thoracic surgery

Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction following thoracotomy and pulmonary resection is a known phenomenon but questions remain about its mechanism, risk factors, and clinical significance. Acute RV dysfunction can present intraoperatively and postoperatively, persisting for 2 months after surgery.

Recently, the pulmonology literature has emphasized pulmonary arterial capacitance, rather than pulmonary vascular resistance, as a marker to predict disease progression and outcome in patients with pulmonary hypertension and heart failure. Diagnostic focus has emerged on the use of cardiac MRI and new echocardiographic parameters to better quantify the presence of RV dysfunction and the role of pulmonary capacitance in its development.

In this review, we examine the most recent literature on RV dysfunction following lung resection, including possible mechanisms, time span of RV dysfunction, and available diagnostic modalities. The clinical relevance of these factors on preoperative assessment and risk stratification are presented.