[Right ventricular failure in terminale cardiac failure: prognostic value and evaluation before transplantation...

Right ventricular failure occurs as a late complication of cardiomyopathy; the observation of biventricular failure usually reduces survival to less than 2 years. Right ventricular dysfunction is related mainly to the important increase of the afterload and also to parietal ischaemia in ischaemic heart disease or direct dysfunction of the contractility in pure myocardial disease, giving rise to the dilated cardiomyopathies. The prognostic value of the right ventricular ejection, fraction has been demonstrated in all forms of cardiomyopathy leading up to cardiac transplantation. Right ventricular function must therefore be taken into account in pretransplantation investigations.