Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Studies in a Large Animal Model That Simulates the Cardiac Abnormalities of Human Septic Shock.

The cardiac dysfunction of sepsis is associated with wall edema. In nonsurvivors, at 0 to 24 hours, sepsis induces a more severe diastolic dysfunction, further decreasing chamber size. The loss of left ventricular mass with wall thinning in septic survivors may, in part, explain the EDV increases from 24 to 48 hours because of a potentially reparative process removing damaged wall tissue. Septic cardiomyopathy is most consistent with a nonocclusive microvascular injury resulting in edema causing reversible systolic and diastolic dysfunction with more severe diastolic dysfunction being associated with a decreased EDV and death.