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Background Prior studies suggested that myocardial deformation is superior to conventional measures for assessing ventricular function. This study aimed to evaluate right ventricular (RV) myocardial deformation in response to increased afterload. Patients with the RV in the systemic position were compared with patients with the RV in the sub-pulmonic position with normal or only slightly elevated systolic right ventricular pressure. Correlations between global longitudinal strain (GLS), radial strain, atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD), and exercise capacity were evaluated. Methods 44 patients with congenital heart defect were enrolled in the study. The control group consisted of seven healthy volunteers. All patients underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. We assessed biventricular myocardial function using CMR based feature tracking and compared the results to anatomic volumes. Results Strain analysis and displacement measurements were feasible in all participants. RVGLS and RVAVPD were reduced in both study groups compared to the control group (p