Affiliations: [a] Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Medicine, Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University Philadelphia, PA 19102–1192, USA | [b] Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3B7, Canada
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: J. Yasha Kresh, Professor and Director of Research, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University, Broad and Vine Streets, Mail Stop 110, Philadelphia, PA 19102–1192, USA.
Note: [*] The European Working Group on Cardiac Imaging Encompassing Structure and Performance, 1995.
Abstract: In the past the study of mechanical and electrical properties of the heart has been disjointed with minimal overlap and unification. The fact remains that these features are tightly coupled and central to the functioning heart. The maintenance of adequate cardiac output relies upon the highly integrated autoregulatory mechanisms and modulation of cardiac myocyte function. Regional ventricular mechanics and energetics are dependent upon muscle fiber stress–strain rate, the passive properties of myocardial collagen matrix, adequate vascular perfusion, transcapillary transport and electrical activation pattern. Intramural hydraulic “loading” is regulated by coronary arterial and venous dynamics. All of these components are under the constant influence of intrinsic cardiac and extracardiac autonomic neurons, as well as circulating hormones. A brief overview of the putative regulation of these various components is presented in this paper.
