How is right coronary artery flow altered in patients with pulmonary hypertension compared to controls?
Pulmonary hypertension causes systolic flow impediment in the right coronary artery, which is proportional to RV pressure and mass, leading to reduced total mean flow in severe RV hypertrophy.
Although in controls, RCA flow is similar in systole and diastole, in PH there is systolic flow impediment, which is proportional to RV pressure and mass. In patients with severe RV hypertrophy total mean flow is reduced.
Wolferen et al. (Sat,) studied this question.