Blood Flow Specific Assessment of Ventricular Function Visualization and Quantification using 4D Flow CMR

........................................................................................................................................... V Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning ............................................................................. VII List of Papers ................................................................................................................................ IX Abbreviations and Nomenclature ......................................................................................... XI Table of contents ....................................................................................................................... XIII Aims .................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. The human heart ....................................................................................................................... 3 2. Cardiac physiology .................................................................................................................. 5 The electrical conduction system ................................................................................................................ 5 The cardiac cycle ................................................................................................................................................ 5 Ventricular contraction and isovolumic contraction (IVC) ............................................................ 7 Ventricular relaxation and isovolumic relaxation (IVR) .................................................................. 7 Ventricular filling ............................................................................................................................................ 7 The cardiac contractile cell ............................................................................................................................ 8 Normal ventricular function ............................................................................................................................ 9 Systolic function ............................................................................................................................................ 9 The pressure-volume loop .................................................................................................................... 10 The pressure-volume relationships, preload and Frank-Starling mechanisms ............. 10 Afterload ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 Contractility ................................................................................................................................................ 12 Cardiac work .............................................................................................................................................. 12 Diastolic function .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Myocardial structure ....................................................................................................................................... 14 Interventricular interaction .......................................................................................................................... 14 3. Heart failure .............................................................................................................................. 17 Neurohumoral activation ................................................................................................................................ 18 Cardiac remodeling and hypertrophy ........................................................................................................ 18