What term describes blood that returns to the left ventricle after the aortic valve closes?

The correct term for blood that returns to the left ventricle after the aortic valve closes is best described as the dicrotic notch. This phenomenon relates to the aortic valve closure, during which there is a brief moment of back pressure in the aorta that causes a small waveform on the arterial pressure graph, known as the dicrotic notch. It marks the transition from systole to diastole, indicating that the left ventricle has finished ejecting blood, and the aortic valve has closed.

Understanding the role of the dicrotic notch is important because it reflects the elastic recoil of the aorta and the subsequent pressure changes that affect diastolic filling of the heart. This adds context to its relationship with heart physiology, particularly regarding how blood dynamics change during the cardiac cycle.

In contrast, end diastolic volume refers to the maximum volume of blood in the ventricle when it is full at the end of diastole, stroke volume is the volume of blood ejected from the ventricle with each heartbeat, and preload indicates the degree of stretch of the heart muscle before it contracts, all of which are part of the overall cardiac function but do not specifically describe the event occurring right after aortic