RESUMEN
Objective To evaluate global and segmental right ventricular ( RV ) systolic functions in patients with excessive volume or pressure load using real‐time three‐dimensional echocardiography ( RT‐3DE) . Methods Forty‐five patients with RV volume overload ,45 patients with RV pressure overload and 45 healthy subjects were underwent RT‐3DE . RV global and segmental ( inflow ,body ,outflow ) end‐diastolic volume (EDV) ,end‐systolic volume (ESV) ,stroke volume (SV) and ejection fraction (EF) were analyzed with TomTec software . The correlations between EF with the three‐dimensional method and two‐dimensional parameters including right ventricle systolic pressure( RVSP) were discussed . Results Global EDV and ESV increased significantly in both patient groups compared with controls ( all P 0 .05) .Compensated increase of SV was found in sixty percent of patients with volume overload but none with pressure overload ( P < 0 .05) . Global EF decreased significantly in both of patient groups (all P <0 .05) ,which was more significant patients with pressure overload ( P < 0 .05 ) . Different patterns of the regional dysfunction were found among the different RV segments . No correlation was found between RVSP and global or segmental EF in patients with pressure overload . Conclusions RT‐3DE could be used to assess global and segmental RV systolic function in patients with pressure and volume overload .