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Influence of gravity on cardiac performanceResults obtained by the investigators in ground-based experiments and in two parabolic flight series of tests aboard the NASA KC-135 aircraft with a hydraulic simulator of the human systemic circulation have confirmed that a simple lack of hydrostatic pressure within an artificial ventricle causes a decrease in stroke volume of 20%-50%. A corresponding drop in stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) was observed over a range of atrial pressures (AP), representing a rightward shift of the classic CO versus AP cardiac function curve. These results are in agreement with echocardiographic experiments performed on space shuttle flights, where an average decrease in SV of 15% was measured following a three-day period of adaptation to weightlessness. The similarity of behavior of the hydraulic model to the human system suggests that the simple physical effects of the lack of hydrostatic pressure may be an important mechanism for the observed changes in cardiac performance in astronauts during the weightlessness of space flight.
Document ID
20040142146
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Pantalos, G. M.
(University of Utah Salt Lake City 84112, United States)
Sharp, M. K.
Woodruff, S. J.
O'Leary, D. S.
Lorange, R.
Everett, S. D.
Bennett, T. E.
Shurfranz, T.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1998
Publication Information
Publication: Annals of biomedical engineering
Volume: 26
Issue: 6
ISSN: 0090-6964
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary
Parabolic Flight
Non-NASA Center
manned
Flight Experiment
short duration

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