Cardiac Contraction and the Pressure-Volume Relationship

The product of 15 years of intense collaborative research, this book explains the use of the pressure-volume diagram in evaluating cardiac performance. This approach has gained increasingly widespread acceptance since the mid-1970s. It is an extremely useful way to understand the fundamental mechanics of cardiac contraction and its interaction with the vascular system. After a brief historical overview, the authors describe the similarities between the ventricular pressure-volume relationship and the muscle tension-length relationship. The effect of various physiological mechanisms and pharmacological interventions are examined, as are the energetics of ventricular contractions and the hemodynamics of the entire circulatory system. Clinical applications are considered and current knowledge about the effects of growth and aging is reviewed. The authors provide necessary explanatory information from physics and engineering to allow a full understanding by clinicians and physiologists. The book will be of particular interest to cardiologists, cardiovascular physiologists and bioengineers.Sagawa, Kiichi is the author of 'Cardiac Contraction and the Pressure-Volume Relationship' with ISBN 9780195043204 and ISBN 0195043200.