1. Cardiovasc Physiology Flashcards
What are the 2 parts of systemic circulation that don’t have arterioles?
CNS/brain, and Heart
Starting with the Right Atrium, name the order in which blood flows through the heart. (chambers and valves)
RA, Tricuspid Valve, RV, Pulmonary valve, Pulm Arteries, Lungs, Pulm Veins, LA, Mitral Valve, LV, Aortic Valve, Aorta, Systemic Circ
What parts of the heart does the R Coronary Artery supply? The Left Coronary Artery?
R Coronary Artery: becomes posterior descending artery. Supplies posterior 1/3 of Septum, AV node, mainly right side of heart?
L coronary artery: Splits to Circumflex artery and Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery. Supplies anterior 2/3 of septum (bundles of conduction system are here), mainly left side of heart?
Which parts of conduction system have slow upstrokes vs fast/sudden upstrokes?
Slow/gradual: SA node and AV node. Rest is bundles, Purkinje fibers, muscle tissue: fast/sudden upstroke.
How does the brain know what the BP is?
Baroreceptors at aorta. they detect BP via stretch: if stretched, BP is high. Can also have stretch receptors in RA – these tell you what the volume is.
Describe Carotid Sinus Massage.
Physician puts pressure on carotid at area of sinus/carotid body. activates the stretch receptors, thereby lowers BP. also decreases sympathetic tone, and increases vagal tone to the AV node.
Vagal efferents to the heart do what? what types of nerves are they?
Vagi are parasympathetic. Stimulation would slow the sinus rate, and decrease conduction through the AV node.
P cells stand for what? what is the quality that they have that is unique?
P for pale (could also be for pacemaker). AV node cells and SA node cells. they have automaticity – they produce the sinus impulses.
Why does the cardiac myocardium require so much ATP?
huge amount of energy required to maintain trans-membrane potential – 10000 fold difference between Ca conc in and Ca conc out.
Which protein wraps around the actin filament and moves in order to allow the myosin to access the ____complex: troponin or tropomyosin?
Tropomycin wraps around in a spiral pattern, troponin is the I, T, C complex. Calcium binds to troponin, moving it and tropomyosin, and the myosin heads can then interact with actin.
Define inotropy
Like contractility. But more specific: refers to the amount of calcium, and the rate at which it flows into the cell.
Define lusitropy.
Opposite of Inotropy. Amount and rate of removal of Ca into SR.
What are the 3 determinants of LV systolic function?
Preload, Contractility, Peripheral Vascular Tone.
Define preload
Fiber length. related to heart size. may also be considered fiber tension prior to contraction.
Define afterload
resistance by systemic vasculature. SVR = systemic vascular resistance. PVT = peripheral vascular tone. essentially what the heart is pushing against.
what is the effect of increased contractility/inotropy on fiber tension?
Not sure
what are a few ways to increase inotropy?
use digitalis to get more Ca2+ in cell, use catecholamines for same purpose. also can give vasodilators to decrease Systemic Vasc Resistance.
What measures are a proxy for preload?
sarcomere length, LV diastolic volume, LV diastolic pressure, pulm wedge pressure.
what measure are a proxy for cardiac output?
stroke volume, LV fiber shortening, LV fiber tension (?)
name 2 ways to increase cardiac output?
increase contractility, or decrease SVR.
3 ways to improve LV systolic function?
increase preload, increase contractility, decr SVR.
What is the main user of myocardial 02 consumption? why is this impt?
afterload. impt because if you have coronary artery disease, increased use of 02 is critical/difficult given your compromised delivery of 02 to the heart.
how would we calculate afterload (wall tension after contraction)?
calculate from heart size and BP. Tension = (Systolic BP * LV radius (ventricle only))/(2xwall thickness)
What are the good and bad qualities of a big heart?
Good: stronger.
Bad: consumes inc 02. because as you enlarge the heart to generate more pressure, you need more tension, so you incr the thickness of the wall.
what are a few things that determine arteriolar resistance to blood flow?
vasoconstrictor and vasodilator fibers, blood-borne excitatory and inhibitory chemicals, vasodilator action of tissue metabolites, adenosine.
what’s impt about adenosine?
impt vasodilator. major metabolite that determines local tone of arteriole.
what is the initial event in systole?
mitral valve closure. aortic valve is initially closed. as LV pressure increases, aortic valve opens, stays open during contraction.
what is the initial event in diastole?
aortic valve closes when pressure is higher in aorta than LA. mitral valve then opens as LV fills.
what are 5 determinants of LV diastolic function?
- Lusitropy
- LA pressure (aka LV filling pressure)
- LV compliance
- HR (affects diastolic filling time)
- atrial kick at end of filling
what is compliance?
stiffness of body that you’re filling. eg stiffness of balloon being blown up.
what are some causes of decreased LV compliance?
ischemia, infarction, LV hypertrophy
2 ways to improve LV diastolic function?
treat underlying causes: ischemia or hypertrophy
decr heart rate to allow more time for filling.
Importance of LV function: three realms.
How does LV function impact prognosis?
Diagnosis?
Treatment?
Prognosis: the degree of LV dysfunction predicts poor prognosis in patients with heart disease.
Diagnosis: Dyspnea can be due to pulmonary or cardiac disease. If there is LV dysfunction, the cause is cardiac.
Therapy: tailored to the type of dysfunction. Systolic prob: improve contraction. Diastolic prob: improve filling.
What is a normal ejection fraction?
around 50%
what is the correlation between ejection fraction and mortality in post-MI patients?
lower the EF, higher the mortality
where would we place a swan-ganz catheter? for what purpose?
place in pulmonary artery (go through SVC, RA, tricuspid, RV, pulmonary valve, to pulm artery).
purpose: measures LV preload. measures pressure of blood on way to lungs = estimate for BP on way back from lungs to LA.
where is pulm artery wedge pressure taken?
in pulm artery, just past RV and prior to entry to lungs.