Function of the Right Ventricle

It is becoming increasingly clear that the right ventricle plays an important role in the circulatory system. Especially in disease states, right ventricular (RV) function may be of great importance. As such, knowledge on RV function in both health and disease is essential for clinicians. This chapter provides current available knowledge on RV function, starting with a brief description of ideas on RV function that have passed from the second century up to now. This will be followed by a description of the physiology of cardiomyocyte and RV contraction and relaxation. Furthermore, the most used and up till now most applicable method to describe RV myocardial systolic and diastolic function in terms of their stiffness (“elastances”) using the systolic and diastolic pressure-volume relationships is explained in detail. Finally, factors that are known to regulate RV function are discussed.