Figure 1

Hemodynamic forces [N] over the cardiac cycle, projected onto long axis (LAx) (A and C) and short axis (SAx) images (B and D). The cardiac cycle is colorcoded as: systole (green), early diastole (E-wave) (red), diastasis (yellow) and late diastole (A-wave) (blue). A-B) shows a healthy 54 y.o. male; C-D) shows a 43 y.o. male with dilated cardiomyopathy. The maximum values for E- and A-wave indicated by the dashed white lines in the LAx-direction (A and C) and in the SAx-direction (B and D) was used to calculate the "SAx-max/LAx-max force"-ratio. LA, Left Atrium; LV, Left Ventricle; RA, Right Atrium.