Starling-effect-independent lusitropism index in canine left ventricle: logistic time constant.

The logistic time constant (tau(L)) has been proposed as a better index of the rate of left ventricular (LV) relaxation or lusitropism than the conventional monoexponential time constant (tau(E)). However, whether and how the Frank-Starling effect influences tau(L) remains to be elucidated. We compared the effect of LV volume (LVV) loading on both logistic and monoexponential fittings. The isovolumic LV relaxation pressure curves from the maximum negative time derivative of pressure (-dP/dt(max)) were analyzed at 3 different end-points at 4 LVVs of 10, 12, 14, and 16 mL in 8 excised, cross-circulated canine hearts. We found that the logistic fitting was superior to the monoexponential fitting at all LVVs and end-points. LVV loading did not affect tau(L) but affected tau(E) slightly. Although the advancing end-point increased both tau(L) and tau(E), the increases were significantly smaller for tau(L) than for tau(E) at all LVVs. Moreover, the changes in both the amplitude constants and nonzero asymptotes with the advancing end-point were significantly smaller for the logistic fitting than for the monoexponential fitting. We conclude that tau(L) served as a more reliable index of lusitropism that is independent of the change in LVV loading or the Frank-Starling effect.