diastole

Last reviewed 01/2018

Ventricular diastole is the passive filling phase of the cardiac cycle.

Diastole is defined differently according to how one observes the heart:

  • structural definition:
    • the filling phase of ventricular relaxation between aortic valve closure and mitral valve closure

  • functional definition:
    • myocyte relaxation

These definitions are not identical because of the period of isovolumic relaxation of the ventricle before the mitral valve opens.