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No heartbreak at high altitude; preserved cardiac function in chronic hypoxia
Author(s) -
Stembridge Mike,
Levine Benjamin D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
experimental physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1469-445X
pISSN - 0958-0670
DOI - 10.1113/ep087665
Subject(s) - preload , afterload , cardiology , hypoxia (environmental) , medicine , stroke volume , effects of high altitude on humans , frank–starling law of the heart , cardiac output , contractility , blood pressure , chemistry , heart rate , hemodynamics , anatomy , oxygen , organic chemistry
High altitude hypoxia presents a series of challenges to the human heart due to concomitant changes in preload, afterload and contractility. This challenge is characterised by a decrease in blood volume due to plasma volume constriction, an increase in right ventricular afterload via hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, and an increase in sympathetic nerve activity . As such, understanding how the heart adapts to this multifaceted challenge has been a topic of interest to physiologists and clinicians for decades. In the current issue of Experimental Physiology, Maufrais et al. (2019) use modern speckle tracking technology to investigate region-specific cardiac performance in chronic hypoxia.