Interventional Therapies for Right Ventricular Failure Secondary to Precapillary Pulmonary Hypertension

Marc de Perrot, MD Division of Thoracic Surgery, University Health Network University of Toronto Toronto, ON Patients with pulmonary hypertension that progress to acute decompensation present high mortality rates. The main mechanism of death in this population is right ventricular failure. Once this scenario becomes refractory to optimized medical therapies, mechanical support is increasingly considered as either a bridge to recovery or, most often, as a bridge to definitive surgical treatment (such as lung transplantation, surgical embolectomy, or pulmonary endarterectomy). This review will focus on the existing evidence on mechanical support for the failing right ventricle, all in the context of precapillary pulmonary hypertension.