Assessing Right Ventricular Function in the Perioperative Setting, Part I: Echo-Based Measurements.

ABSTRACT

This article reviews transesophageal echocardiography-based assessment of perioperative right ventricular function and failure, including catheter-based methods, three-dimensional echocardiography, and their combination to make pressure-volume loops. It outlines right ventricular pathophysiology, multiple assessment methods, and their relationship to analogous transthoracic echocardiogram measurements. technologies used and developed for transthoracic or left ventricular assessment show significant limitations when applied to transesophageal assessment of the right ventricle. The article provides an overview of right ventricular assessment modalities that can be used in transesophageal echocardiography. Ultimately, clinicians must know limitations of measurements, synthesize information, and assess it in the clinical context.