Which of the following best describe Anrep effect ?: (A) Increased preload decreases cardiac contractility, (B) Increased after load increases cardiac contractility, (C) Increased preload decreases cardiac relaxation, (D) Decreased after load decreases cardiac relaxation
Answer is B. Anrep effect: - Increased afterload increases cardiac contractility. Autoregulation method in which myocardial contractility increases with afterload. It was experimentally determined that increasing afterload caused a propoional linear increase in ventricular inotropy For instance, when LV has to pump against the aoa pressure, & the aoa pressure is after load on LV. If the after-load increases, then against the increasing resistance LV has to contract & eject out the blood, therefore it needs to go on increasing its contractility, this effect has been called as the Anrep effect. Such contractions are called as - Auxotonic contraction.