Document Type
Article
Publication Date
June 2015
DOI
10.1086/680358
Keywords
mathematical model, right ventricular failure, RC time constant, pulmonary circulation
Disciplines
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering | Medicine and Health Sciences
Abstract
Compliance (C) and resistance (R) maintain a unique, inverse relationship in the pulmonary circulation, resulting in a constant characteristic time that has been observed in healthy subjects as well as patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, little is known about the dependence of right ventricular (RV) function on the coupled changes in R and C in the context of this inverse relationship. We hypothesized three simple dependencies of RV ejection fraction (RVEF) on R and C. The first model (linear-R) assumes a linear RVEF-R relation; the second (linear-C) assumes a linear RVEF-C relation; and the third one combines the former two in a mixed linear model. We found that the linear-R model and the mixed linear model are in good agreement with clinical evidence. A conclusive validation of these models will require more clinical data. Longitudinal data in particular are needed to identify the time course of ventricular-vascular impairment in PAH. Simple models like the ones we present here, once validated, will advance our understanding of the mechanisms of RV failure, which could improve strategies to manage RV dysfunction in PAH.
Recommended Citation
Alessandro Bellofiore, Z. Wang, and Naomi Chesler. "What does the time constant of the pulmonary circulation tell us about the progression of right ventricular dysfunction in pulmonary arterial hypertension?" Faculty Publications (2015). https://doi.org/10.1086/680358
Comments
This article originally appeared in volume 5, issue 2 of Pulmonary Circulation and may be found at this link: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/680358.
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