Vortices formed on the mitral valve tips aid normal left ventricular filling.

ABSTRACT: For the left ventricle (LV) to function as an effective pump it must be able to fill from a low left atrial pressure. However, this ability is lost in patients with heart failure. We investigated LV filling by measuring the cardiac blood flow using 2D phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging and quantified the intraventricular pressure gradients and the strength and location of vortices. In normal subjects, blood flows towards the apex prior to the mitral valve opening, and the mitral annulus moves rapidly away after the valve opens, with both effects enhancing the vortex ring at the mitral valve tips. Instead of being a passive by-product of the process as was previously believed, this ring facilitates filling by reducing convective losses and enhancing the function of the LV as a suctio

SUBMITTER: Charonko JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5441394 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature