Etiology-dependent impairment of relaxation kinetics in right ventricular end-stage failing human myocardium.

Background: In patients with end-stage heart failure, the primary etiology often originates in the left ventricle, and eventually the contractile function of the right ventricle (RV) also becomes compromised. RV tissue-level deficits in contractile force and/or kinetics need quantification to understand involvement in ischemic and non-ischemic failing human myocardium.

Methods And Results: The human population suffering from heart failure is diverse, requiring many subjects to be studied in order to perform an adequately powered statistical analysis.