Assessment of wall stresses and mechanical heart power in the left ventricle: Finite element modeling versus Laplace analysis.

Laplace estimates of LV wall stress are able to provide a rough approximation of global mean stress in the circumferential-longitudinal plane of the LV. However, according to FE results, spatial heterogeneity of stresses in the LV wall is significant, leading to major discrepancies between local stresses and global mean stress. Assessment of mechanical power with Laplace methods is feasible, but these are inferior in accuracy compared with FE models. The accurate assessment of stress and power density distribution in the LV wall is only feasible based on patient-specific FE modeling.