The heart is composed of two independent pumping systems, one on the left side and one on the right. The right chamber, or right atrium, of the heart relaxes and expands to fill with blood that has returned from the body. (This relaxed action causes diastolic pressure, recorded as the second and lower number when measuring blood pressure). The used blood is poor in oxygen and rich in carbon dio...

The effect of a continuous infusion of human brain natriuretic peptide, 2 pmol.min-1.kg-1, during 60 min was studied in nine patients with congestive heart failure and in 10 healthy control subjects. Brain natriuretic peptide increased from 1.6 to 101 pmol/l in control subjects and from 25 to 173 pmol/l in congestive heart failure during infusion. Urinary sodium excretion increased significantl...