Heart filling exceeds emptying during late ventricular systole in patients with systolic heart failure and healthy subjects – a cardiac MRI study

Background: Total heart volume (THV) within the pericardium is not constant throughout the cardiac cycle and THV would intuitively be lowest at end systole. We have, however, observed a phase shift between ventricular outflow and atrial inflow which causes the minimum THV to occur before end systole. The aims were to explain the mechanism of the late-systolic net inflow to the heart and determine whether this net inflow is affected by increased cardiac output or systolic heart failure. Methods and Results: Healthy controls (n = 21) and patients with EF