A High Prevalence of Less-Compliant Right Ventricle in Elderly Cardiac Patients

Abstract

The pathophysiology of the elderly heart failure is poorly understood. We examined the prevalence of less-compliant right ventricle (RV) to clarify whether venous congestion in the elderly is related to stiffening of the RV. The less-compliant RV was defined by the typical non-compliant pattern (a prominent Y descent and H wave corresponding to a dip and plateau of the RV pressure) of jugular pulse in 1058 cardiac patients. Less-compliant RV under 35 years old was related to cardiac surgery. With aging from 60 to > 90 years, however, the prevalence of less-compliant RV rose substantially from 8 % to 43% independently of cardiac surgery, suggesting that the age-related progression of RV stiffening could result the restriction to RV filling and venous congestion in the elderly cardiac patients.