What is systolic heart failure?
Systolic heart failure is a type of heart failure in which the amount of blood expelled from the heart chambers into the blood vessels is greatly reduced. In the normal state, between 60 and 70 percent of the blood volume is pumped into the aorta per heartbeat. About 70 milliliters per heartbeat enter the body’s circulation.
In the case of systolic heart failure, the amount of blood pumped out can drop to values below 25% and thus below 25 milliliters. The cause of systolic heart failure is a reduced contraction force of the heart muscle cells. Another cause can be an increased afterload.
The afterload is determined by two factors – the arterial blood pressure and the stiffness of the arteries. These two factors counteract blood ejection from the ventricles in the body arteries. Therefore, the lower the contraction force and the higher the afterload, the lower the ejection capacity of the heart.
The reduced ejection capacity of the heart results in reduced blood flow in parts of the body. In order to avoid permanent damage, action must be taken as soon as possible. This is usually done by medication, such as diuretics, beta-blockers or aldosterone antagonists.
What is diastole?
The activity of the heart can be divided into systole and diastole.The systole represents the contraction of the atria and ventricles, while the diastole represents the flaccid phase. During diastole, the heart is filled with blood from the body and lungs. Blood from the inferior and superior vena cava is pumped into the right atrium and blood from the pulmonary veins into the left atrium.
Diastole can be divided into an atrial diastole and a ventricular diastole. Between the atrium and the chamber are so-called sail valves, which are closed during the relaxation phase and open during the subsequent filling phase. During the atrial diastole, the atria initially relax – but the valves are still closed.
Due to a higher pressure in the supplying veins compared to the atrium, the atria are filled. During ventricular diastole, the blood from the atria continues to flow into the ventricles. The so-called pocket valves, which connect the ventricles with the pulmonary and body circulation, are closed and are only opened during systole, i.e. the contraction of the heart muscles. You can find more about diastole on our page Diastole
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