Capillary Density in Right Ventricular Myocardium in Congenital Heart Disease

Right ventricular failure (RVF) is still associated with an increased mortality in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) or congenital heart disease. Transition from right ventricular dysfunction to RVF is not predictable and has not been well understood so far. Several studies in rodents and in piglets showed that impairment of capillary density (CD) in the right ventricle (RV) is associated with right ventricular failure (1, 2). Some evidence suggested that the RV of patients with Eisenmenger Syndrome (ES) has remarkable adaptive capacities to high pulmonary pressures (3), leading to a longer survival in these patients when compared to patients with other etiology of PH.
Source: The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Tags: Research Correspondence Source Type: research