Echocardiographic Parameters for Evaluating the Right Ventricle in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Literature Review

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease that often has an indolent course and systemic repercussions. Its main cause is constant and prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke or other gases. Such particles lead to reduced airflow and consequent lung hyperinflation with varying degrees of airway obstruction, also causing skeletal muscle dysfunction, respiratory failure, and decreased peripheral blood flow. COPD patients with concomitant cardiovascular disease (CVD) have a worse prognosis than simply the prognosis of each disease alone. [...]