Plane-strain finite-element analysis of reconstructed diastolic left ventricular cross section

The true shapes of cross sections of isolated left ventricles reconstructed from multiplanar roentgenographic recordings are analyzed using the finite-element method based on plane-strain theory. The proposed cylindrical model of the left ventricle permits variations of the stresses not only transversely throughout the ventricular walls but also circumferentially around the epicardial and endocardial surfaces to be evaluated. Numerical results are presented for cross sections at the midplane between the base and apex of the left ventricle during early and end diastole. For the anterior and posterior walls of the left ventricle, the maximum circumferential stresses are found to occur on the endocardial surface, whereas for the septal and free walls of the left ventricle, the maximum circumferential stresses occur on the epicardial surface with compressive circumferential stresses often developing on the endocardial surface.