Hemodynamic significance of metabolic turn-over rate.

Method in establishing mammalian hemodynamic similarity criteria via the classical allometric approach was examined. Metabolic rate (MR) per unit body weight (w), termed the metabolic turn-over rate (MTR), was found to be linearly related to mammalian resting heart rate (fh). The external ventricular work (EW) per unit body weight was found to be constant among mammalian species. The ratio of (EW/w)/(MTR/fh) is dimensionless, and is about 1/70. This latter qualifies as a new similarity principle. It states that the external ventricular work intensity during each cardiac cycle is directly proportional to the metabolic turn-over rate.