Left ventricular regional work from wall tension-area loop in canine heart

To quantitatively evaluate left ventricular (LV) regional work, LV pressure-volume relation and wall tension-regional area (TA) relation were analyzed in the excised cross-circulated left ventricle connected to a volume servo pump system. Wall tension was calculated using Laplace's law for a spherical model, and regional area was determined from orthogonal segment lengths measured with pairs of ultrasonic crystals. Data were obtained by changing LV end-diastolic volume or stroke volume before and after dobutamine infusion and before and after global ischemia. Regional work, assessed from the area within a TA loop during one cardiac cycle, correlated well with simultaneously obtained LV stroke work under all of the above experimental conditions (r = 0.90 +/- 0.09 to 0.97 +/- 0.02), and the linear regression line was not altered by changes in stroke volume, end-diastolic volume, or contractile state. Furthermore, measured regional work (RWm) proved to agree closely with the predicted value (RWp) calculated from LV stroke work and regional area [RWm = 0.91 RWp - 0.69 (mmHg . ml), r = 0.93]. Thus we conclude that TA relation may be useful for quantitative evaluation of regional work of the LV wall.