Factors which affect the diastolic pressure-volume curve.

Abstract

The reviewed theoretical, experimental [animal], and clinical [human] results suggest that geometry changes (hypertrophy and dilation) influence the pressure-volume curve in response to chronic changes in the heart''s operating environment. Acute reversible muscle elasticity changes are much smaller than were expected and are probably inadequate to explain acute shifts in the pressure-volume curve. Direct experimental studies on dog hearts with the effects of the right ventricle minimized failed to detect changes in the pressure-volume curve with either segmental or global ischemia. Changes in muscle elasticity play an important role in mediating some chronic shifts in the pressure-volume curve, such as those which develop following the development of fibrosis.