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The Right Heart pp 9–18Cite as

Function of the Right Ventricle

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Abstract

The role that the right ventricle (RV) plays in the body circulation is only recently acknowledged. Especially in disease states, RV function may be of great importance. As such, knowledge on RV function in both health and disease is essential for clinicians. The present chapter provides current knowledge available on RV function, starting with a brief description of ideas on RV function that have passed from the second century up to now. This will be followed by a portrayal of the physiology of cardiomyocyte and RV contraction and relaxation. Furthermore, the most used and up till now most applicable method to describe RV myocardial systolic and diastolic function in terms of their stiffness (“elastances”) using the systolic and diastolic pressure-volume relationships will be explained in detail. Finally, factors that are known to regulate function will be discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pulmonary Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Pia Trip MD

  2. Department of Physiology, VU University Medical Center, van der Boechorstsraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Nicolaas Westerhof PhD

  3. Department of Pulmonary Medicine, VU University Medical Centre, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Anton Vonk Noordegraaf MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Pia Trip MD
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  2. Nicolaas Westerhof PhD
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  3. Anton Vonk Noordegraaf MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anton Vonk Noordegraaf MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Pulmonary Hypertension Unit, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

    Sean P. Gaine

  2. Department of Cardiology, Erasme University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium

    Robert Naeije

  3. Scottish Pulmonary Vascular Unit, Regional Heart and Lung Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom

    Andrew John Peacock

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

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Trip, P., Westerhof, N., Noordegraaf, A.V. (2014). Function of the Right Ventricle. In: Gaine, S., Naeije, R., Peacock, A. (eds) The Right Heart. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2398-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2398-9_2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2397-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2398-9

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