Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1995 Aug;60(2):268-71.
doi: 10.1016/0003-4975(95)00365-r.

MRI complements standard assessment of right ventricular function after lung transplantation

W H Frist  1 , C H Lorenz, E S Walker, J E Loyd, J R Stewart, T P Graham Jr, D P Pearlstein, S P Key, W H Merrill
Affiliations

MRI complements standard assessment of right ventricular function after lung transplantation

W H Frist et al. Ann Thorac Surg. 1995 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Changes in right ventricular mass and ejection fraction after single-lung transplantation for pulmonary hypertension are poorly understood.

Methods: To complement functional data provided by echocardiography, radionuclide ventriculography, and right heart catheterization, magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess right ventricular function in 5 single-lung transplant recipients with preoperative pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction (right ventricular ejection fraction, 0.21 +/- 0.09). The right and left ventricular mass, ejection fraction, and mass ratio (left ventricular mass/right ventricular mass) were calculated from the magnetic resonance images.

Results: The mean pulmonary artery pressure fell from 72 +/- 18 to 21 +/- 8 mm Hg after transplantation. At 3 months after transplantation both the left ventricular and right ventricular ejection fractions approached normal values, as shown by both radionuclide ventriculography and magnetic resonance imaging, but the right ventricular mass remained abnormally high with slightly low mass ratios. By 1 year both the left ventricular and right ventricular masses had regressed to normal with near-normal mass ratios.

Conclusions: Right ventricular performance returns to nearly normal early after transplantation, but the right ventricular mass regresses over a more prolonged time. Cine magnetic resonance imaging provides a noninvasive means of assessing changes in right ventricular function and mass after lung transplantation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types