The diagnosis and early complications of right ventricular infarction

Studies of pathology have shown that involvement of the right ventricle (RV) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is relatively common. Our experience in the noninvasive diagnosis of RVAMI and its early prognosis is presented. Sixty patients with AMI were prospectively studied: 40 patients with inferior AMI and 20 patients with anterior AMI. The evaluation was made by: (1) CLINICAL FINDINGS: hypotension, congestive heart failure, sinus bradycardia less than 40/min, dysrhythmia, and conduction disturbances; (2) ECG record including precordial lead (V4R); (3) Radioisotope heart scintigraphy: 99mTc-PYP infarct scintigraphy and multigated acquisition MUGA blood pool scanning. Of the 40 patients diagnosed as having inferior AMI, 20 cases (50%) were found to be associated with RVAMI. All of them were diagnosed by positive radionuclide studies, and 17 (85%) also demonstrated a ST segment elevation of 0.1 mV, and pathological Q waves in the V4R lead. The ejection fraction (EF) of RV was found to be significantly decreased in patients with RVAMI compared with the other group (mean, 27% versus 57%). Among the 20 patients with RVAMI, 16 (80%) showed various complications during the hospitalization period, versus 9 patients (45%) from the group with inferior AMI. The most common complication in RVAMI patients was conduction disturbances (7 of 20 versus 2 of 20 patients). The clinical and prognostic importance of the early diagnosis of RVAMI is stressed.