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Afterload

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Cardiovascular Hemodynamics

Part of the book series: Contemporary Cardiology ((CONCARD))

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Abstract

Cardiac afterload is a semiquantitative composite assessment of a determinant of cardiac output. Afterload is the force again which the heart pumps to expel blood into the vasculature and can be understood in the whole heart as the stress encountered by left ventricular myofibers as they contract against the end-diastolic volume. Wall tension can be at least in part described by LaPlace’s equation and aids in the explanation of why a dilated ventricle (with an increased chamber radius) must develop a greater inward force than a smaller heart to generate the same systolic pressure. The dilated ventricle is, therefore, vulnerable to an afterload mismatch whereby a high afterload can significantly decrease cardiac output. Addressing this mismatch with vasodilators is an established therapeutic strategy to augment cardiac output in the setting of both acute and chronic heart failure.

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Suggested Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Amanda R. Vest

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  1. Amanda R. Vest
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Correspondence to Amanda R. Vest .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Premier Health Advocates, Beachwood, OH, USA

    Arman T. Askari

  2. Gill Heart and Vascular Institute, University of Kentucky HealthCare, Lexington, KY, USA

    Adrian W. Messerli

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Vest, A.R. (2019). Afterload. In: Askari, A., Messerli, A. (eds) Cardiovascular Hemodynamics. Contemporary Cardiology. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19131-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19131-3_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19130-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19131-3

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