The public defence will be held as a video conference over Zoom.
The defence will follow regular procedure as far as possible, hence it will be open to the public and the audience can ask ex auditorio questions when invited to do so.
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Due to copyright reasons, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. In order for the faculty to have time to process the order, it must be received by the faculty no later than 2 days prior to the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. Inquiries regarding the thesis after the public defence must be addressed to the candidate.
Digital Trial Lecture – time and place
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Joost Lumens, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
- Second opponent: Associate Professor Håvard Dalen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor emerita Kirsten Krohg-Sørensen, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor II Dan Atar, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Head of Section, Associate Professor Helge Skulstad, Oslo University Hospital
Summary
This thesis investigates how both the left ventricle (LV) and the right ventricle (RV) are affected by changes in afterload, and by dyssynchronous activation with emphasis on regional myocardial function. The findings may have implications for diagnostics and potentially improving patient care.
In paper 1 we studied adult patients born with transposition of the great arteries (TGA). They were operated with atrial switch surgery as young children resulting in a systemic RV exposed to higher (systemic) pressures than during normal physiology. We found reduced septal function that may be a result of a long-term exposure to systemic afterload due to a flatter septum. Further studies could be done to determine if medical therapy that reduces septal afterload may improve systemic ventricular function in these patients.
In paper 2 we studied whether asymptomatic patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB) were more sensitive to acute increase of afterload compared to healthy controls. Systolic arterial pressure was increased noninvasively and simultaneous echocardiography was performed. Our results demonstrated that LBBB patients were more sensitive to increased afterload, shown by reductions in ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain. The findings may have implications for using EF as criterion for selection for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).
In paper 3 we studied how LBBB and CRT affected RV free wall function by direct ventricular interaction. We found that LBBB induces a distinct early systolic shortening in the RV free wall that reduces RV free wall work, this contraction pattern is attributed to abnormal septal motion. CRT, however, improves septal function and increases work in the RV free wall. Our findings may explain why patients with RV failure respond poorly to CRT, which may influence prognosis in these patients.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.