Effect of venous compliance on left ventricular stroke work at different heart rates

Effect of the venous compliance amplitude on left ventricular work, especially during systemic or pulmonary chronic edema, was studied in this paper via a computer model. The model contains three parts: the left ventricle (LV), preload equivalent and afterload equivalent. Based on continuity, it was assumed that the aortic blood flow must, on average, equal the venous return. The modeling results show that for constant contractile function, higher venous compliance shifts the maximum of LV stroke work per beat to a higher heart rate. It was concluded that venous compliance alters the heart rate at which the power output of the left ventricle is a maximum