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Updated: Apr 24, 2026
Lumped-Parameter and Finite Element Modeling of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction
Published on: February 13, 2021
Impact of atrial fibrillation on the cardiovascular system through a lumped-parameter approach
Stefania Scarsoglio1, Andrea Guala2, Carlo Camporeale2
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Torino, Italy. stefania.scarsoglio@polito.it.
Insights
This study models cardiovascular responses during atrial fibrillation (AF), revealing reduced cardiac output and increased left atrial pressure. The findings enhance understanding of AF
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Bioengineering Sciences
- Computational Biology
Background:
- Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent arrhythmia with significant health implications.
- Key feedback mechanisms within the cardiovascular system during AF remain incompletely understood.
- Existing research often involves comorbidities, complicating the isolation of AF's direct effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the global cardiovascular system's response during paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
- To utilize a lumped-parameter model with stochasticity to simulate irregular heartbeats and reduced contractility.
- To provide insights into hemodynamic parameters difficult to measure clinically.
Main Methods:
- Employed a lumped-parameter modeling approach for cardiovascular dynamics.
- Incorporated stochastic modeling to represent irregular heartbeats characteristic of AF.
- Modeled reduced cardiac contractility associated with atrial fibrillation.
- Analyzed a comprehensive set of hemodynamic parameters in isolation from other pathologies.
Main Results:
- Observed reduced cardiac output and ejection fraction during simulated AF.
- Documented decreased energy conversion by the heart during blood pumping.
- Identified elevated left atrial volumes and pressures consistent with clinical observations.
- Generated data on cardiovascular variables not readily available in existing literature.
Conclusions:
- The developed model offers a powerful tool for comprehending cardiovascular alterations during AF.
- Provides novel insights into the systemic impact of atrial fibrillation.
- Facilitates deeper understanding and prediction of AF's effects on the cardiovascular system.
Abstract:
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia affecting millions of people in the Western countries and, due to the widespread impact on the population and its medical relevance, is largely investigated in both clinical and bioengineering sciences. However, some important feedback mechanisms are still not clearly established. The present study aims at understanding the global response of the cardiovascular system during paroxysmal AF through a lumped-parameter approach, which is here performed paying particular attention to the stochastic modeling of the irregular heartbeats and the reduced contractility of the heart. AF can be here analyzed by means of a wide number of hemodynamic parameters and avoiding the presence of other pathologies, which usually accompany AF. Reduced cardiac output with correlated drop of ejection fraction and decreased amount of energy converted to work by the heart during blood pumping, as well as higher left atrial volumes and pressures are some of the most representative results aligned with the existing clinical literature and here emerging during acute AF. The present modeling, providing new insights on cardiovascular variables which are difficult to measure and rarely reported in literature, turns out to be an efficient and powerful tool for a deeper comprehension and prediction of the arrythmia impact on the whole cardiovascular system.
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