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Updated: Aug 3, 2026

Cardiac Catheterization in Mice to Measure the Pressure Volume Relationship: Investigating the Bowditch Effect
Published on: June 14, 2015
Afterload sensitivity of nonlinear end-systolic pressure-volume relation vs preload recruitable stroke work in
L C McClain1, L D Wright, R K Bose
1Department of Surgery, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298, USA.
Abstract:
The observations in vivo of a non-linear, afterload-sensitive end-systolic pressure-volume relation (ESPVR) and a linear, load-insensitive preload recruitable stroke work (PRSW) relation may be reconciled by considering the PRSW as a product of both the ventricular ESPVR and the arterial elastance (Ea). We obtained pressure-volume data from eight conscious dogs. The ESPVR was nonlinear, and its trajectory was afterload-dependent. The PRSW was linear and load-independent. Arterial elastance changed with both acute reductions in preload and steady-state changes in afterload. The PRSW relation thus describes both myocardial function and ventricular-arterial interaction and is a useful index of cardiovascular performance in patients.
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