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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2006;29:S21-S40
© 2006 Elsevier Science NL

Review

The helical ventricular myocardial band: global, three-dimensional, functional architecture of the ventricular myocardium

Mladen J. Kocica ^{a , _*} , Antonio F. Corno ^b , Francesc Carreras-Costa ^c , Manel Ballester-Rodes ^d , Mark C. Moghbel ^e , Clotario N.C. Cueva ^f , Vesna Lackovic ^g , Vladimir I. Kanjuh ^h , Francisco Torrent-Guasp ^{i ,}

^a Clinic for Cardiac Surgery, Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, UC Clinical Centre of Serbia, 8th Kosta Todorovic St., 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
^b Alder Hey Royal Children Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom
^c Department of Cardiology, Cardiac Imaging Unit, Hospital Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain
^d Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain
^e Department of Anatomical Sciences UC Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
^f Department of Cardiac Surgery, UC Federal de Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
^g Institute for Histology and Embriology, Medical School UC Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
^h Serbian Academy for Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
ⁱ Denia, Alicante, Spain

Received 23 February 2006; accepted 2 March 2006.

^_* Corresponding author. Tel.: +381 11 3670 609; fax: +381 11 3610 880. (Email: kocica{at}sezampro.yu). (URL: http://www.ctsnet.org/home/mkocica).

We are currently witnessing the advent of new diagnostic tools and therapies for heart diseases, but, without serious scientific consensus on fundamental questions about normal and diseased heart structure and function. During the last decade, three successive, international, multidisciplinary symposia were organized in order to setup fundamental research principles, which would allow us to make a significant step forward in understanding heart structure and function. Helical ventricular myocardial band of Torrent-Guasp is the revolutionary new concept in understanding global, three-dimensional, functional architecture of the ventricular myocardium. This concept defines the principal, cumulative vectors, integrating the tissue architecture (i.e. form) and net forces developed (i.e. function) within the ventricular mass. Here we expose the compendium of Torrent-Guasp's half-century long functional anatomical investigations in the light of ongoing efforts to define the integrative approach, which would lead to new understanding of the ventricular form and function by linking across multiple scales of biological organization, as defined in ongoing Physiome project. Helical ventricular myocardial band of Torrent-Guasp may also, hopefully, allow overcoming some difficulties encountered in contemporary efforts to create a comprehensive mathematical model of the heart.

Key Words: Ventricle • Anatomy • Myocardium • Physiology • Helical ventricular myocardial band

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