Cardiac Mechanics I: Fluid Dynamics in the Cardiac Chambers

Abstract

This chapter starts by introducing the general electromechanical cycle of the beating heart. It sketches out the connection between the electric phases of the electrocardiogram and the mechanical phases of the left ventricle volume changes corresponding to active myocardial contraction and passive relaxation. Then the classical description of ventricular mechanical function based on the pressure–volume relationship is introduced posing attention to its connection with blood motion. The fundamental knowledge about the fluid dynamics inside the left ventricle is summarized, the main descriptors are divided into those describing the efficiency of blood transit and those regarding the exchange of force between blood and tissue. A categorized description of the principal ventricular pathologies is reported with a description of the associated alteration in cardiac fluid dynamics. The potential relationship between cardiac flow and heart failure is carefully discussed.