Heat transfer and temperature profiles during ischemia and infarction in the left ventricular wall

Abstract

A theoretical analysis and an experimental procedure for determining the temperature fields in the left ventricular (LV) wall are presented. The bio-heat equation which accounts for heat conduction, convection and heat production in the LV wall is formulated and solved to yield the transmural as well as the epicardial temperature distributions at a variety of operating conditions.A typical hyperbolic temperature distribution across the myocardium, with a maximum near the midwall, is predicted for the normal heart. The temperature profiles in an ischemic or infarcted zone deviate from the normal behavior, displaying a gradual decrease in the midwall temperatures and a tendency for a monotonous endocardial to epicardial temperature decrease in the transmural necrotic region. The calculated epicardial circumferential temperature distribution map of an acute infarcted LV is in agreement with the experimental epicardial temperatures measured by using a thermal imaging technique. The data show a typical decrease in temperature in the infarcted zone with a relatively narrow (approx. 1 cm) border zone between the infarct and the normal tissue. The model may thus be used as a tool to evaluate the static and dynamic features of the myocardial flow distribution in normal and pathological situations.KeywordsTemperature DistributionLeave Anterior DescendRight VentricleFree ConvectionLeft Ventricular WallThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.