Assessment of right heart function in preeclampsia by echocardiography

• This was a prospective observational case-control study and 66 women with term PE and 46 gestational age matched healthy pregnant women at gestational age >37 weeks were included.
• Most of the studies have focused on the functional and structural alterations occured in the left-sided heart.
• There is a lack of published data on myocardial structure and function of the right-sided heart in PE.
• Although we could not demonstrate right ventricular dysfunction in term PE patients, we demonstrated significant differences in some right ventricular measurements.
• PE is not only affecting the left-sided heart but also affecting the right-sided heart.

BackgroundPreeclampsia (PE) is a multisystemic disorder characterized by hypertension and proteinuria that is specific to pregnancy and associated with maternal and fetal morbidity-mortality.AimTo assess right heart structure and function in PE by echocardiography using conventional and tissue Doppler techniques.MethodsIn total, 67 women with untreated PE and 46 matched healthy pregnant women were included. PE was defined according to the ACOG (2002) criteria. Right and left heart functions were evaluated using transthoracic two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography with color Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging techniques.ResultsRight ventricular basal and outflow tract diameters and free wall thickness, right atrial end-systolic maximum diameter, and area were significantly higher in the PE group than the control group (p < 0.05). Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion, isovolumic acceleration time, tissue Doppler-derived tricuspid lateral annular systolic velocity (S′), right ventricle fractional area change, and myocardial performance index (Tei) were significantly lower in the PE group than the controls (p < 0.05).ConclusionsPE does not only affect the left side of the heart but also the right side. This finding may open new scenarios, because right ventricular dysfunction may also be responsible for PE-related morbidity.