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Updated: Nov 29, 2025
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Biventricular Assessment of Cardiac Function and Pressure-Volume Loops by Closed-Chest Catheterization in Mice
Published on: June 15, 2020
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Right ventricular dysfunction and long-term risk of death
Jason L Sanders1, Martin Koestenberger2, Stephan Rosenkranz3
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Therapy
|November 23, 2020
Summary
Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is an emerging predictor of sudden cardiac death (SCD). This review explores RV dysfunction
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Cardiac Physiology
- Sudden Cardiac Death Research
Background:
- Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is often caused by left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.
- Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is increasingly recognized as a factor in heart failure.
- Emerging evidence suggests RV dysfunction may independently predict SCD risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of RV dysfunction in modifying long-term SCD risk.
- To explore potential mechanisms linking RV dysfunction to SCD.
- To understand the origins of RV dysfunction through cardiac embryology.
Main Methods:
- Review of cardiac embryology, anatomy, and physiology of the RV and LV.
- Contrast of static and dynamic RV physiology with LV.
- Examination of ventriculo-arterial coupling, mechanical constraint, and ventricular interdependence.
- Review of age-specific epidemiology of SCD and RV dysfunction causes.
Main Results:
- RV has unique anatomy and physiology compared to LV.
- Age-specific causes of RV dysfunction include ARVD and HCM in youth, and ischemia/heart failure/pulmonary hypertension in adults.
- Need for further studies on RV dysfunction's independent contribution to mortality and functional capacity.
Conclusions:
- RV dysfunction is a significant factor in heart failure and may independently predict SCD.
- Understanding RV embryology and physiology is key to understanding RV dysfunction.
- Prospective studies with detailed RV phenotyping are needed to clarify RV dysfunction's role in SCD and mortality.
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