Frank-Starling Law of the Heart
Two physiologists, Otto Frank and Ernest Starling, demonstrated that the strength of ventricular contraction varies directly with the end-diastolic volume (fig. 14.2). Even in experiments where the heart is removed from the body (and is thus not subject to neural or hormonal regulation) and where the still-beating heart is filled with blood flowing from a reservoir, an increase in EDV within the physiological range results in increased contraction strength and, therefore, in increased stroke volume. This rela- tionship between EDV, contraction strength, and stroke volume is thus a built-in, or intrinsic, property of heart muscle, and is known as the Frank-Starling law of the heart.
Two physiologists, Otto Frank and Ernest Starling, demonstrated that the strength of ventricular contraction varies directly with the end-diastolic volume (fig. 14.2). Even in experiments where the heart is removed from the body (and is thus not subject to neural or hormonal regulation) and where the still-beating heart is filled with blood flowing from a reservoir, an increase in EDV within the physiological range results in increased contraction strength and, therefore, in increased stroke volume. This rela- tionship between EDV, contraction strength, and stroke volume is thus a built-in, or intrinsic, property of heart muscle, and is known as the Frank-Starling law of the heart.
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