SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona have redefined how the heart functions and the findings could lead to better treatment options.
"Redefining how the heart functions is one of the first steps that could lead to revolutionary approaches to treating patients who have heart failure -- 5 million and growing in the U.S. -- or better yet, preventing the heart failure from developing," says study co-author Dr. Bijoy Khandheria, chair of the Division of Cardiology at the clinic.
The heart is often thought as a "piston pump" with contraction -- systole -- occurring when the heart moves blood from its left ventricular cavity into the body's circulatory system, and relaxation -- diastole -- when the heart fills with new blood.
However, the researchers found the left ventricle ejects blood into the body's blood vessels through well synchronized electrical and mechanical waves traveling from the heart's tip -- apex -- toward the base of the heart.
