title: Usefulness of low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography for the evaluation of spontaneous recovery of stunned myocardium in patients with acute right ventricular infarction.
abstract: Right ventricular (RV) infarction (RVI) is usually associated with severe RV global dysfunction representing predominantly stunned myocardium that may respond favorably to reperfusion. We assessed the efficacy of low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE), performed early in the course of a reperfused RVI, to predict the recovery of RV systolic and diastolic function in 3 months, documenting the recovery of stunned myocardium. In all, 27 patients with acute, successfully thrombolyzed RVI comprised the study population. All patients underwent standard echocardiography at baseline and 3 months later for evaluation of RV systolic and diastolic function. At day 5 DSE was performed for evaluation of RV contractile reserve. Of the total number of segments analyzed, 69% were detected as stunned. At baseline, RV systolic and diastolic indices were seriously impaired showing significant improvement at follow-up. RV wall-motion score index during DSE was positively correlated with the same index at follow-up. DSE is a safe and precise modality to predict recovery of stunned myocardium in the setting of RVI.
authors.affiliation: First Cardiology epartment, AHEPAUniversity Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Haralampos I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Karvounis
authors.forename: Christodoulos E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.forename: Dimitrios G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Ketikoglou
authors.forename: Theodora A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Zaglavara
authors.forename: Georgios E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Parharidis
authors.forename: Georgios E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Louridas
mesh_terms: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D004280:Dobutamine; D025401:Echocardiography, Stress; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017682:Myocardial Stunning / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests
chemical_list: D002316:Cardiotonic Agents; D004280:Dobutamine