We developed a coronary active perfusion system (CAPS) to avoid myocardial ischemia during off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB). The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal timing of CAPS perfusion, and to investigate any adverse effects when it is driven within the systolic phase. Twenty-four pigs were divided into four groups: (A) systolic, (B) early-diastolic, (C) middle-diasto...

Background Efficient right ventricular (RV) pumping function requires optimal blood flow dynamics. In the left ventricle (LV), diastolic vortex ring formation distal to the mitral valve (MV) has been reported to be an important mechanism for such blood flow optimization. Earlier work based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using simplified RV geometry modeling have reported vort...

AIMS To study the clinical value of the colour-M-mode slope of the early diastolic left ventricular filling phase (Vp) and the early diastolic downward M-mode slope of the left atrioventricular plane displacement (EDS), compared with diastolic function assessed by traditional Doppler evaluation. METHODS AND RESULTS In 65 consecutive patients EDS and Vp were compared with a four-degree traditi...

Mammalian sinoatrial node (SAN) cells, the natural pacemaker cells of the heart, have an action potential characterized by the presence of a special phase, the slow diastolic (pacemaker) depolarization (phase 4), which drives pacemaker activity and has therefore attracted the interest of generations of cardiac physiologists. What is the basis of the pacemaker depolarization? Here the features o...

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), a valuable non-invasive technique for the evaluation of the cardiovascular system, has already been accepted as the "gold standard" for the assessment of systolic function. The assessment of diastolic function is important not only for diagnosis purposes, but also in terms of prognosis. ECG-triggering phase-contrast (PC) CMR allows the routine assessment...

In a previous study of the photographic venous tracings taken from clinical cases of fibrillation, 1 it was shown that the types of waves occurring during systole could be satisfactorily harmonized with and explained by photographic tracings previously obtained from animal experiments. The diastolic waves, however, could be given several different interpretations. This phase of the subject was,...

Left ventricular diastolic filling is impaired in many patients with coronary artery disease and normal left ventricular systolic function, and is improved in many patients after coronary angioplasty (PTCA). To investigate the mechanisms for this improvement, we studied regional asynchrony by radionuclide angiography in 26 patients with single-vessel coronary artery disease before and after suc...