Understanding the relationship between the heart & the arteries under resting & exercise conditions

On average the human heart beats more than 100,000 times each day. With each beat there are substantial changes in pressure and flow in the large arteries just outside the heart that must be buffered and converted to steady state pressure and flow in the very small arteries distant from the heart. The health of the heart (ie its structure and function) is highly dependent on how effectively these large pressure changes are buffered by the arterial system.

The exact physiology underlying how the heart interacts with the arterial system (ventricular-arterial interaction) is complex and not fully understood, but has significant medical relevance to cardiac disease in particular. Moreover, understanding the physiological response to light exercise is proposed to be of medical importance, since even the most inactive people must undertake low level physical activity as part of their daily life.

The broad aim of this research project is to gain a more exact understanding of the physiology of ventricular-arterial interaction at rest and during exercise. A series of studies in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and coronary artery angiograms will be performed at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

This project is a participant based study.

Research Groups

Related Diseases