The phase of the heartbeat when the heart muscle contracts and pumps blood from the chambers into the arteries.Often contrasted with diastole
- ‘During systole, the rise from left ventricular end-diastole pressure to end-aortic diastolic pressure is decreased; thus the aortic valve opens earlier and stays open longer.’
- ‘Younger people have a highly distensible aorta, which expands during systole and minimises any subsequent rise in blood pressure.’
- ‘The passive, elastic recoil between systoles maintains the blood pressure, smooths the flow of blood, and forces blood through the coronary arteries while the ventricles are filling.’
- ‘The reflected wave returns to the aorta during systole rather than diastole, increasing systolic work even more and reducing diastolic pressure, on which coronary flow depends.’
- ‘A newer classification scheme for heart failure is based not on left or right side failure but rather on whether the failure occurs during systole or diastole.’
Late 16th century: via late Latin from Greek sustolē, from sustellein ‘to contract’.
We take a look at several popular, though confusing, punctuation marks.