Acute Right Ventricular Dysfunction in Intensive Care Unit

Table 3

Cardiovascular drugs for the management of acute RVF.

Agent	Receptors agonism					Cardiovascular properties
				D	V1	CI	PVR	SVR	PVR/SVR	HR
Vasopressors
Norepinephrine	++	+				+	+	++	−/+	+
Phenylephrine	++					−	++	+	+	−
AVP (0.01–0.03 UI/min)				+	+	+/−	+/−	++	−	−
Inotropes
Epinephrine	++	++	+			++	−	++	−	++
Dopamine
<5 μg/kg/min		+		++		+	−	−	−	+
5–10 μg/kg/min	+	++		++		+	+	+	+/−	+
>10 μg/kg/min	++	++		++		+	+	++	+	+
Dobutamine		++	+			++	−	−	−	+
Inodilators
Milrinone						++	−	−	−	+/−
Levosimendan						++	−	−	−	+

, , and : adrenergic receptors; D: dopaminergic receptor; V1: vasopressin receptor; +: low-moderate affinity; ++: moderate-high affinity; AVP: arginine vasopressin; CI: cardiac index; PVR and SVR: pulmonary and systemic vascular resistance; HR: heart rate. Drugs in italic are the most preferable. −: neutral effect.