Herramientas diagnósticas para la monitorización intraoperatoria de la insuficiencia ventricular derecha en cirugía cardiaca

Right ventricular function has a substantial effect on morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This article contains a review of the range of diagnostic tools available in the operating room, including those that provide a direct view of the heart, different types of echocardiography (e.g. transesophageal and epicardial), invasive hemodynamic measurement using a Swan-Ganz catheter and, in patients with right ventricular infarction, electrocardiography. The various diagnostic methods available are complementary and none should be used exclusively since each provides information that compensates for the limitations of other hemodynamic monitoring techniques.