ABSTRACT
Myober structure is an important determinant of the heart function (Waldman et al. 1988). The distribution of myober orientation within the heart wall is the main determinant of stress distribution and myober shortening throughout the wall (Bovendeerd et al. 1992), and therefore, of cardiac perfusion (Garrido et al. 1994) and structural adaptation (Arts et al. 1994, Geerts et al. 2002). Myober structure also plays a key role in electrical propagation inside the heart (Chen et al. 1993). Myober architecture is known to be altered in some cardiac diseases, such as ischemic heart disease and ventricular hypertrophy (Scollan et al. 1998). Therefore, detailed knowledge of the myocardial ber microstructure promises to lead to better understanding of the heart function in health and disease.
