Veno-ventricular interaction and heart failure

An analytical solution for ventricular preload is provided. The approach rests on basic principles of autoregulation of cardiac output and blood pressure by the kidney´s control of total blood volume. A computer model of the left ventricle and afterload was developed that incorporates these mechanisms. For control conditions, it was found that the model converged to the preload necessary for the prescribed cardiac output and pressure. For a decrement in ventricular contractile properties, the model predicted an increase in total blood volume and preload. This compensatory response maintained ventricular output. These responses are consistent with observations of early cardiac failure