Cardiac function may be depressed in all forms of shock. Maintenance of blood pressure is dependent on three cardiac factors:preload,afterload, andcontractility. Preload is the volume seen by the heart during ventricular filling, afterload is the resistance toventricular ejection, and contractility is...
Ventricular function can be analyzed from measures of the ejecting phase of contraction (e.g. velocity and extent of wall shortening) in terms of the appropriateness of the matching between afterload and the level of inotropic state, as modulated by the preload. In the normal heart, under contr...
VLoad), afterload increases (afterload alteration by aortal pressure (P) increase, PLoad) and preload reductions on an increased afterload (VLoad high). Preload reductions (inferior vena cava occlusion, IVCO) were achieved by shortly (< 10 s) inflating a balloon catheter...