Mechanics and Function of the Pulmonary Vasculature: Implications for Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Right Ventricular Function

Abstract The relationship between cardiac function and the afterload against which the heart muscle must work to circulate blood throughout the pulmonary circulation is defined by a complex interaction between many coupled system parameters. These parameters range broadly and incorporate system effects originating primarily from three distinct locations: input power from the heart, hydraulic impedance from the large conduit pulmonary arteries, and hydraulic resistance from the more distal microcirculation. These organ systems are not independent, but rather, form a coupled system in which a change to any individual parameter affects all other system parameters. The result is a highly nonlinear system which requires not only detailed study of each specific component and the effect of disease on their specific function, but also requires study of the interconnected relationship between the microcirculation, the conduit arteries, and the heart in response to age and disease. Here, we investigate systems‐level changes associated with pulmonary hypertensive disease progression in an effort to better understand this coupled relationship. © 2012 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 2:295‐319, 2012.