Jose R Tapanes
International Institute for Health Care Professionals
Abstract
Afterload is the pressure in the wall of the left ventricle during ejection. In other words, it is the end load against which the heart contracts to eject blood. Afterload is divided into components: one factor is the aortic pressure the left ventricular muscle must overcome to eject blood. There is an inverse relationship between afterload and stroke volume. Factors that affect afterload include age due to stiffness and less contraction of the muscular arteries, increase of blood pressure and constriction of the arteries.
The heart simply ejects all of the extra blood that filled it. However, increased in stroke volume leads to an increase in cardiac output and arterial pressure therefore the afterload of ventricles increases, over time the increasing of the pressure in left ventricle cause hypertrophy of left ventricle reducing the stroke volume and increasing the ESV.
When arterial pressure is reduced and controlled increases the stroke volume (difference between EDV and ESV) and thereby decreases the ESV.
The goals of pharmacotherapy for heart failure consist in to reduce