LV Meridional Wall Stress (Laplace)
Left-ventricular meridional wall stress (Laplace): pressure × radius ÷ (2 × wall thickness), the afterload term behind wall-thinning geometry.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- LV pressure
- 120 mmHg
- LV internal radius
- 2.5 cm
- Wall thickness
- 1.0 cm
Result: LV meridional wall stress 204 g/cm².
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Meaning
- Higher pressure or a larger cavity relative to wall thickness raises wall stress (afterload); concentric hypertrophy normalizes it.
What you enter
- LV pressure
- LV internal radius
- Wall thickness
How this is calculated
- Formula
- σ = P·r/(2·h); 1 mmHg = 1.36 g/cm², so σ (g/cm²) = 1.36·P·r/(2·h).
Grossman W, Jones D, McLaurin LP. Wall stress and patterns of hypertrophy in the human left ventricle. J Clin Invest. 1975;56(1):56-64. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.