Cor pulmonale

Cor pulmonale, also known as right heart failure, is a medical term used to describe a change in structure and function of the right ventricle of the heart as a result of a respiratory disorder. Right ventricular hypertrophy or RVH is the predominant change in chronic cor pulmonale although in acute cases dilation dominates. Both hypertrophy and dilation are the result of increased right ventricular pressure.

Dilation is essentially a stretching of the ventricle, the immediate result of increasing the pressure in an elastic container. Ventricular hypertrophy is an adaptive response to a long-term increase in pressure. Additional muscle grows to allow for the increased contractile force required to move the blood against greater resistance.

To be classified as cor pulmonale, the cause must originate in the pulmonary circulation system. Two major causes are vascular changes as a result of tissue damage (e.g. disease, hypoxic injury, chemical agents etc.), and chronic hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction. RVH due to a systemic defect is not classified as cor pulmonale.