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Cardiac diastole is the period of the cardiac cycle when, after contraction, the heart relaxes and expands while refilling with blood returning from the circulatory system. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Both atrioventricular (AV) valves open to facilitate the 'unpressurized' flow of blood directly through the atria into both ventricles, where it is collected for ...
This period of time is referred to as the refractory period, which is 250ms in duration and helps to protect the heart. In the classical sense, the cardiac refractory period is separated into an absolute refractory period and a relative refractory period. During the absolute refractory period, a new action potential cannot be elicited.
Cardiac cells have two refractory periods, the first from the beginning of phase 0 until part way through phase 3; this is known as the absolute refractory period during which it is impossible for the cell to produce another action potential. This is immediately followed, until the end of phase 3, by a relative refractory period, during which a ...
The absolute refractory period for cardiac contractile muscle lasts approximately 200 ms, and the relative refractory period lasts approximately 50 ms, for a total of 250 ms. This extended period is critical, since the heart muscle must contract to pump blood effectively and the contraction must follow the electrical events.
The refractory period of cardiac muscle is distinct from that of skeletal muscle. Nerves that innervate skeletal muscle have an extremely short refractory period after being subjected to an action potential (of the order of 1 ms). This can lead to sustained or tetanic contraction. In the heart, contractions must be spaced to maintain a rhythm.
Effective refractory period in green. In electrocardiography, during a cardiac cycle, once an action potential is initiated, there is a period of time that a new action potential cannot be initiated. This is termed the effective refractory period (ERP) of the tissue.
The contractility of both a healthy heart and a damaged heart could be increased through application of appropriate signals during the absolute refractory period of the cardiac muscle cells. [47] [48] An implantable cardiac contractility modulation device was received by a patient for the first time in 2001.
A Wiggers diagram, named after its developer, Carl Wiggers, is a unique diagram that has been used in teaching cardiac physiology for more than a century. [1] [2] In the Wiggers diagram, the X-axis is used to plot time subdivided into the cardiac phases, while the Y-axis typically contains the following on a single grid: Blood pressure. Aortic ...