PAH Complicates Post-MI RV Dysfunction
A new study assessed the poorly understood impact of pulmonary hypertension on mortality after myocardial infarction.
Shahar K, Darawsha W, Yalonetsky S, et al. Time dependence of the effect of right ventricular dysfunction on clinical outcomes after myocardial infarction: role of pulmonary hypertension.J Am Heart Assoc. 2016 Jul 11;5.
Research has found that right ventricular dysfunction is an important contributor to cardiovascular outcomes after acute myocardial infarction but little is known about the impact of comorbid pulmonary arterial hypertension.
In the absence of pulmonary hypertension the effect of right ventricular dysfunction appears to be limited to the first 30 days post-myocardial infarction.
The increased risk of long-term mortality associated with RV dysfunction in the presence of PH underscores the profound clinical consequences of an acute pressure overload on the ischemic RV and thus the importance of assessment of both RV function and PASP [pulmonary arterial systolic pressure] in the setting of acute MI.
