Postinfarct Left Ventricular Remodelling: A Prevailing Cause of Heart Failure

Figure 1

In a normal ventricle, the force generated by myocardial contraction is balanced (a and c). When there is an infarct scar (white), the infarcted segment is stretched by the force generated by the remote normal myocardium (b and d). As a result, the infarct scar expands and the infarcted wall becomes thinner, while the remote myocardium becomes hypertrophic to maintain a normal global cardiac function (d). Arrows indicate the vectors of forces generated by opposite left ventricular segments during systole.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)