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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Heart Fail Rev. 2017 Mar;22(2):191–207. doi: 10.1007/s10741-016-9549-4

Figure 3. Relevance of diaphragm abnormalities to cardiovascular and respiratory pathophysiology in aging and heart failure.

Figure 3

Loss of diaphragm force is caused by contractile apparatus dysfunction and fiber atrophy, whereas slower shortening velocity is determined by contractile apparatus dysfunction and fiber type shifts. These diaphragm alterations trigger cardiovascular and pulmonary pathophysiological responses. SNA, sympathetic nervous activity. Solid arrows and lines are relevant for CHF and aging, while the dotted line is relevant mainly for CHF. The model illustrated here was expanded from concepts originally developed by others [53,3,1,45].