BACKGROUND: Although the salutary effects of reperfusion in patients with left ventricular infarction are well documented, the benefits in patients with acute right ventricular infarction are less clear. METHODS: To determine whether primary angioplasty improves right ventricular function and the clinical outcome in patients with right ventricular infarction, we performed echocardiographic studies before and after angioplasty in 53 patients with acute right ventricular infarction. RESULTS: Complete reperfusion, defined as normal flow in the right main coronary artery and its major right ventricular branches, was achieved in 41 patients (77 percent), leading to prompt and striking recovery of right ventricular function (mean [+/-SE] score for free-wall motion, 3.0+/-0.1 at base line and 1.4+/-0.1 at three days; P<0.001). Twelve patients (23 percent) had unsuccessful reperfusion, defined as the failure to restore right ventricular branch flow, with or without patency of the right main coronary artery. Unsuccessful reperfusion was associated with lack of recovery of right ventricular function (score for free-wall motion, 3.2+/-0.2 at base line and 3.0+/-0.9 at three days; P= 0.55), as well as persistent hypotension and low cardiac output (in 83 percent of the patients, vs. 12 percent of those with successful reperfusion; P=0.002) and a high mortality rate (58 percent, vs. 2 percent for those with successful reperfusion; P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with right ventricular infarction, complete reperfusion of the right coronary artery by angioplasty results in the dramatic recovery of right ventricular performance and an excellent clinical outcome. In contrast, unsuccessful reperfusion is associated with impaired recovery of right ventricular function, persistent hemodynamic compromise, and a high mortality rate.
BACKGROUND: Although the salutary effects of reperfusion in patients with left ventricular infarction are well documented, the benefits in patients with acute right ventricular infarction are less clear. METHODS: To determine whether primary angioplasty improves right ventricular function and the clinical outcome in patients with right ventricular infarction, we performed echocardiographic studies before and after angioplasty in 53 patients with acute right ventricular infarction. RESULTS: Complete reperfusion, defined as normal flow in the right main coronary artery and its major right ventricular branches, was achieved in 41 patients (77 percent), leading to prompt and striking recovery of right ventricular function (mean [+/-SE] score for free-wall motion, 3.0+/-0.1 at base line and 1.4+/-0.1 at three days; P<0.001). Twelve patients (23 percent) had unsuccessful reperfusion, defined as the failure to restore right ventricular branch flow, with or without patency of the right main coronary artery. Unsuccessful reperfusion was associated with lack of recovery of right ventricular function (score for free-wall motion, 3.2+/-0.2 at base line and 3.0+/-0.9 at three days; P= 0.55), as well as persistent hypotension and low cardiac output (in 83 percent of the patients, vs. 12 percent of those with successful reperfusion; P=0.002) and a high mortality rate (58 percent, vs. 2 percent for those with successful reperfusion; P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with right ventricular infarction, complete reperfusion of the right coronary artery by angioplasty results in the dramatic recovery of right ventricular performance and an excellent clinical outcome. In contrast, unsuccessful reperfusion is associated with impaired recovery of right ventricular function, persistent hemodynamic compromise, and a high mortality rate.
Authors: Santanu Guha; Rishi Sethi; Saumitra Ray; Vinay K Bahl; S Shanmugasundaram; Prafula Kerkar; Sivasubramanian Ramakrishnan; Rakesh Yadav; Gaurav Chaudhary; Aditya Kapoor; Ajay Mahajan; Ajay Kumar Sinha; Ajit Mullasari; Akshyaya Pradhan; Amal Kumar Banerjee; B P Singh; J Balachander; Brian Pinto; C N Manjunath; Chandrashekhar Makhale; Debabrata Roy; Dhiman Kahali; Geevar Zachariah; G S Wander; H C Kalita; H K Chopra; A Jabir; JagMohan Tharakan; Justin Paul; K Venogopal; K B Baksi; Kajal Ganguly; Kewal C Goswami; M Somasundaram; M K Chhetri; M S Hiremath; M S Ravi; Mrinal Kanti Das; N N Khanna; P B Jayagopal; P K Asokan; P K Deb; P P Mohanan; Praveen Chandra; Col R Girish; O Rabindra Nath; Rakesh Gupta; C Raghu; Sameer Dani; Sandeep Bansal; Sanjay Tyagi; Satyanarayan Routray; Satyendra Tewari; Sarat Chandra; Shishu Shankar Mishra; Sibananda Datta; S S Chaterjee; Soumitra Kumar; Soura Mookerjee; Suma M Victor; Sundeep Mishra; Thomas Alexander; Umesh Chandra Samal; Vijay Trehan Journal: Indian Heart J Date: 2017-03-23