Differential response of the left and right ventricles to pressure overload revealed with diffusion tensor MRI tractography of the heart in vivo

Background The left ventricle (LV) can tolerate pressure overload from hypertension or aortic stenosis for many years. In contrast, the right ventricle (RV) adapts to pulmonary hypertension only if this develops at birth, while in the adult heart severe and often fatal RV failure develops. We hypothesized that i) these divergent responses could be due to differences in myofiber architecture in the free walls of the LV and RV and that ii) adaptive changes to pressure overload would be seen in the LV but not the RV.