Heart muscles sketched by da Vinci play vital role in heart function | Health - Imperial College London

Maxine Myers, Communications Manager for the
Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre said, Structures first sketched by artist Leonardo da Vinci are crucial in understanding how the heart works, according to researchers.

Da Vinci
Photo:  Imperial College London 

The study, led by researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) London Institute of Medical Sciences at Imperial College London, is the first to show how a complex mesh of muscle fibres that line the inner surface of the heart play a vital role in its function by increasing the efficiency of blood flow through the organ.

The team hopes the findings, published in the journal Nature, could help to identify those most at risk of heart failure, one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and inform research into new treatments for the disease...

The researchers will carry out more research on these muscles inside the heart, with the hope this could lead to new directions for understanding how common heart diseases develop and how they are treated. 
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Source: Imperial College London