• Robyn J Meyer, Karl B Kern, Robert A Berg, Ronald W Hilwig, and Gordon A Ewy.
• Department of Pediatrics, University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, USA.
• Resuscitation. 2002 Nov 1; 55 (2): 187-91.

BackgroundLeft ventricular dysfunction after resuscitation from cardiac arrest has been well described. Treatment with dobutamine improves post-resuscitation left ventricular function. Right ventricular function following resuscitation has not been investigated. The purposes of this study were to examine right ventricular function following resuscitation and determine whether dobutamine would improve post-resuscitation right ventricular function.Methods And ResultsRight ventricular function was measured in 28 swine (29+/-1 kg) before and after resuscitation from 15 min of untreated ventricular fibrillation. Twelve animals received dobutamine at 10 mcg/kg/min while 16 animals served as untreated controls. Among controls, right ventricular dysfunction post-resuscitation was demonstrated by a decrease in right ventricular ejection fraction and an increase in right ventricular end-diastolic pressure. Among animals treated with dobutamine, there was a significant improvement in right ventricular function post-resuscitation compared to untreated controls.ConclusionsThis study establishes that right ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction does occur after prolonged cardiac arrest from ventricular fibrillation. Dobutamine can ameliorate post-resuscitation right ventricular dysfunction.Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.

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