Right heart failure: A review of clinical status and meta-analysis of diagnosis and clinical management methods

Abstract

Research on heart failure (HF) has traditionally focused on the left-ventricular heart failure (LHF) with little consideration for the right-ventricular heart failure (RHF). Thus, precise knowledge of the role of the right ventricle (RV) in health and disease has lagged far behind that of the left ventricle (LV). Recently, increased recognition of the importance of RV failure in the development of HF has motivated increased research interest to improve clinical management of HF. However, research on RHF has remained fragmented and precise diagnostic and therapeutic methods are not well established. The present paper seeks to conduct a review of published research evidence including two meta-analyses of diagnosis and clinical management methods to advance knowledge on clinical status, diagnosis and management of RHF.