1 Discuss one known cause ie molecular mechanism of congesti

1. Discuss one known cause (i.e. molecular mechanism) of congestive heart failure due to systolic dysfunction.

a. Draw a left ventricular pressure-volume loop you’d expect to see from a patient with systolic dysfunction (as compared to normal). Assume a normal End Diastolic Volume (EDV) for the patient.

Solution

1). Reduced ejection fraction is one the known of congestive heart failure due to systolic dysfunction. Reduced ejection fraction is caused by several other pathological conditions of the heart such as atherosclerosis, cardiomyopathy, etc.

The formation of atherosclerotic plaques alter the structure of endothelial linings, which attracts the clotting factors and trigger inappropriate clotting.

The atherosclerotic plaques further decrease the diameter of the blood vessels. The risk of clotting also increases with the decrease in the blood flow. The force of contraction increases and the myofibril size increases, which leads to cardiomyopathy. Subsequently, the elasticity if the myocardial cells decreases and the ejection fraction decreases.