New Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Reference Ranges for Right Ventricular Volumes and Systolic Function: What Is New and Why Should We Care?

Accurate quantitation of right ventricular (RV) volumes and systolic function provides important diagnostic and prognostic information in a wide range of conditions. In the case of heart failure, a preserved RV ejection fraction (RVEF) is associated with improved long-term survival. The most recent task force criteria for the diagnosis of arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy require the presence of abnormal measurements of RV end-diastolic volume or RVEF to fulfil the major imaging criterion for diagnosis of the condition. In pulmonary arterial hypertension, increased RV end-diastolic volume and decreased RV stroke volume independently predict mortality and after myocardial infarction, RV function is an independent prognostic marker of clinical outcome.