Abstract
Myocardial contractility—often referred to as inotropy—is the inherent capacity of the myocardium to contract independent of loading conditions, that is, preload and afterload (discussed in Chaps. 1 and 2, respectively). Thus, for a given preload and afterload, contractility is a manifestation of all other factors that influence the interactions between contractile proteins. The incorporation of all these factors makes a simple definition of “contractility” difficult, and it is more easily understood through discussions of changes in contractility. Clinically, a change in left ventricular contractility can be defined as a change in the work performed per beat at a constant end-diastolic volume and aortic pressure.
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Thomas, J.S., Dunn, J.M. (2019). Contractility. In: Askari, A., Messerli, A. (eds) Cardiovascular Hemodynamics. Contemporary Cardiology. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19131-3_3
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