Fig. 1

Schematic study overview. A comprehensive display of the study’s design, the investigated cohorts and the methodology. All patients underwent intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) after the induction of general anesthesia but prior to sternotomy. Three-dimensional (3D) speckle-tracking-derived characterization of the right ventricle (RV) was performed using the ReVISION method. Together with left ventricular, clinical and surgical data, these parameters were tested for their association with a composite endpoint of adverse postoperative outcomes. Finally, the retrospectively derived observations were validated in prospectively enrolled patients.