Abstract
The right ventricle (RV) has been less studied than the left ventricle in terms of physiopathology and echocardiography. However, this ventricle is more involved in respiratory diseases in the ICU, both acute and chronic. Its functionality may determine the load response and blood volume in unstable patients, and whenever the hypotensive patient does not respond to a fluid challenge, an involvement of the RV is suspected. The pulmonary artery is a large artery originating from the superior surface of the RV and carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs. The pulmonary artery is the exception to the rule that arteries carry oxygenated blood from the heart to other parts of the body. Both these structures can be well studied with transthoracic echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography.
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Tritapepe, L., Mezzapesa, M., Frasacco, G., Manganelli, C., De Santis, V., Pacilli, M. (2019). The Right Ventricle and Pulmonary Artery: Frequent Imaging in ICU Patients. In: Sarti, A., Lorini, F. (eds) Textbook of Echocardiography for Intensivists and Emergency Physicians. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99891-6_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99891-6_8
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