Heart filling exceeds emptying during late ventricular systole in patients with systolic heart failure and healthy subjects - a cardiac MRI study.

Heart size increases before end systole due to a late-systolic net inflow which is unaffected by increased cardiac output. This may be explained by inertia of blood that flows into the atria generated by ventricular systole. The lower late-systolic net inflow in patients with systolic heart failure may be a measure of decreased ventricular filling due to decreased systolic function, thus linking systolic to diastolic dysfunction.