Introduction The clinical significance and prognosis of septic myocardial dysfunction is controversial.
Sepsis-related myocardial dysfunction is frequently seen in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock [1 3].
Myocardial dysfunction is a common complication during sepsis and significantly contributes to the mortality of patients with septic shock.
Echocardiographic myocardial dysfunction is reported commonly in sepsis and septic shock, but there are limited data on sepsis-related right ventricular dysfunction.
Our data suggest that when controlling for cardiac preload, a sensitive measure of myocardial dysfunction is associated with tachycardia, itself a useful surrogate for hyperadrenergia.
Septic myocardial dysfunction is characterized by an acute, reversible depression of left ventricle (LV) contractility with normal or low filling pressures [5].
LV sepsis-related myocardial dysfunction is nowadays a well-known entity [48], and both global and regional systolic wall motion abnormalities can be found [49, 50].
Introduction Myocardial dysfunction is one of the main predictors of poor outcome in septic patients, with mortality rates next to 70%.
However, this myocardial dysfunction is responsive to therapy and reversible, suggesting a stunning phenomenon rather than a permanent and irreversible myocardial injury (i.e., myocardial infarction) [50].
Post-resuscitation myocardial dysfunction is a critical issue, and has been reported in 45% to 60% of successfully resuscitated patients [3], [4].
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of neonatal sepsis where myocardial dysfunction is an important contributor to poor outcome.
