Ventricular Diastolic Suction at Normal Arterial Pressures

Abstract

It has been shown previously that an empty ventricle can suck in a small amount of fluid during diastole, but the question of whether a normal ventricle does so was not answered. In the present experiments it was demonstrated that even a ventricle with a more nearly normal endsystolic residual volume draws blood into its cavity and that this ventricular vis a fronte is augmented by the action of epinephrine.