ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Right ventricular infarction occurs when the coronary blood supply to the right ventricular myocardium is interrupted. In anterior infarction, the infarct-related coronary artery is the left anterior descending artery (LAD), that supplies a small amount of the right ventricle (RV) near the septum, particular in the apical region (273). In posterior infarction, about 90% of RV infarcts are caused by occlusion of the right coronary artery (RCA), and 10% by occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery (LCx). In patients with a right dominant coronary anatomy, the RCA supplies the lateral and posterior right ventricular wall, together with a variable amount of the posterior left ventricular wall. In patients with a left dominant coronary anatomy, the LCx supplies a small part of the posterior right ventricular wall near the septum. Consequently, RV infarction large enough to cause RV dysfunction is caused by occlusion in the proximal RCA, and is normally associated with some posterior left ventricular (LV) infarction (combined LV and RV infarction) (273).
