Right ventricular function in patients treated with inhaled nitric oxide after cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease in newborns and children.

Measurement of right ventricular (RV) function is essential for complete assessment of the effects of inhaled nitric oxide in the postoperative cardiac patient; nitric oxide therapy can result in a decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance and improved echocardiographic RV ejection fraction without necessarily inducing a significant change in pulmonary artery pressure.