title: [Assessment and evaluation of cardiac function].
abstract: Assessment and evaluation of cardiac function have become commonplace in the care of cardiac patients with acute or chronic disorders, since therapy of most cardiac diseases is designed specifically to improve ventricular function. Now, various techniques are available for quantitative measurements of the size, shape and motion of the ventricle. Ventricular dysfunction is defined with two components, systolic and diastolic dysfunction, and can be described hemodynamically in terms of the ventricular pressure-volume diagram. Pure systolic dysfunction is associated with a depression in the end-systolic pressure-volume relation, using the Frank-Starling relation to restore cardiac output toward normal. In contrast, pure diastolic dysfunction is associated with preservation of the end-systolic pressure-volume relation but distortion of the diastolic relation, showing higher diastolic pressure at any given volume. However, in patients presenting clinically with heart failure, both systolic and diastolic dysfunction are usually observed. In this context, factors and disorders that influence ventricular dysfunction are described, considering extrinsic or intrinsic to the ventricular chambers.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yazaki
mesh_terms: D002302:Cardiac Output; D002306:Cardiac Volume; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000502:physiology; D003971:Diastole; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D013599:Systole
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines