we investigated contraction to noradrenaline (na) and kc1 and sensitivity of na at the level of larger vessels (thoracic aorta and vena cava; left renal artery and left renal vein; lateral saphenous artery and lateral saphenous vein and finally central ear artery and marginal ear vein) in a model devised to mimic heart failure. the model presented here is the rabbit coronary ligation model in w...

Previously, we reported that hyposmotic swelling evoked transient vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) contraction that was completely abolished by L-type Ca(2+) channel blockers. In contrast, sustained contraction revealed in hyper- and isoosmotically-shrunken SMCs was insensitive to L-type channel blockers and was diminished in Ca(2+)-free medium by only 30-50%. Several research groups reported ...

Echocardiography was used to study left ventricular size and contraction in 90 patients with isolated mitral valve disease--47 patients with mitral stenosis, 26 with mixed mitral valve disease and 89 with mitral regurgitation. Left ventricular measurements included the end-diastolic internal dimension (LVIDd), mural thickness (PWTd), an index of circumferential myocardial contraction--fractiona...

OBJECTIVE Left atrial (LA) volume reduction surgery concomitant with the maze procedure has been reported to facilitate sinus rhythm recovery even in patients with refractory atrial fibrillation (AF) with an enlarged LA. However, it is unknown whether the procedures can also restore effective atrial function of the enlarged LA with over-stretched myocardium. METHODS The maze procedures in ass...

The mammalian atrial hormone atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) has been shown to have potent natriuretic and diuretic actions as well as vasodilator effects when released into the circulation. To investigate how the levels of the circulating form of this peptide change with alteration of intravascular fluid volume, we measured immunoreactive ANF in the plasma of Wistar rats after acute saline loa...

A method for monitoring left ventricular (LV) volume changes of the human heart by intracardiac impedance measurement was developed. In order to model this method, we simulated the ventricular contraction using a finite-element model (FEM). The myocardium comprised three layers with anatomical fiber orientation. During excitation propagation contraction forces were applied, taking into account ...