Impact of general anesthesia on the echocardiographic assessment of right ventricular function in pediatric patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension

Pulm Circ. 2024 Sep 20;14(3):e12435. doi: 10.1002/pul2.12435. eCollection 2024 Jul.

Abstract

One of the great diagnostic challenges for children with pulmonary arterial hypertension is the need for general anesthesia (GA) to enable successful right heart catheterization. Here, for the first time, we describe how echocardiographic estimates of right ventricular function and pulmonary pressures change in pediatric patients during GA.

Keywords: anesthesia; eccentricity index; hemodynamics; pulmonary arterial hypertension; right ventricular function.