Right ventricular function in patients with lung injury

Right ventricular function was examined in 28 critically ill oatiens under artifical ventilation in intensive care unit, using a rapid-response thermodilution pulmonary artery catheter which enabled the measurement of right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) and the calculation of right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (RVEDVI) and end-systolic volume index (RVESVI). For the wuastitative evaluation of the severity of lung injury, extravascular thermal volume (EVTV) of the lung was simultaneously measured by double indicator dilution technique. The patients were divided into two groups : 15 patients with significant lung injury whose EVTV index was more than 8 ml/kg (17.9±1.0ml/kg [mean±S.E.]