3.2 Flashcards
What are the external features of the heart?
- Main part of the heart consists of cardiac muscle
- Coronary arteries lying over the surface of the heart
What can happen when the coronary arteries become blocked?
- Angina
- Myocardial infarction
What is cardiac muscle?
Specialized muscle found in the walls of the heart
What is the structure of cardiac muscle?
- Consists of fibers that branch producing cross-bridges
- Numerous mitochondria between muscle fibrils (myofibrils)
- Muscle fibrils (myofibrils) are separated by intercalated discs
- Nucleus is divided into contractile units called sarcomeres
When does deoxygenated blood enter the heart?
When does deoxygenated blood enter the heart?
When does oxygenated blood enter the heart?
Through the PULMONARY VEIN into the LEFT ATRIUM
What are the atrioventricular valves?
Valves between the atria and the ventricles which ensure the blood flows in the correct direction
What is the role of the tendinous chords connected to the AV valves?
revent the valves from turning inside out when the ventricles wall contract
What prevents blood from flowing between the ventricles?
A wall of muscle called the septum separates the ventricles from each other.
This ensures that oxygenated blood in the left side of the heart and deoxygenated blood in the right side are kept separate
When does deoxygenated blood leave the heart?
Out of the RIGHT VENTRICLE into the PULMONARY ARTERY
When does oxygenated blood leave the heart?
Out of the LEFT VENTRICLE into the AORTA
What are semilunar valves?
Valves that prevent blood re-entering the heart from the arteries
How are the walls of the Atria adapted for blood pressure?
- Muscle of atrial walls are very thin
(chambers do not create much blood pressure)
How are the walls of the Right Ventricle adapted for blood pressure?
- Walls are thicker than that of the atria to enable it to pump blood out of the heart to the lungs
- Not at too high of a pressure as the lungs are close and the capillaries are fragile
How are the walls of the Left Ventricle adapted for blood pressure?
- Walls are two or three times thicker than that of the RV which enables it to overcome the resistance of systemic circulation and supply the body with oxygen
What is the cardiac cycle?
The sequence of events in one full beat of the heart
What is the role of the valves?
Ensure blood flows in the correct direction
What is systole?
Contraction of the heart
What events happens starting from after ventricular systole?
- The pressure in the ventricles rapidly drops
- Blood in the atria pushes the AV valves open
- Blood entering the heart flows straight through the atria and into the ventricles
- The pressure in the atria and ventricles rise slowly
- The valves remain open while the atria contract, but close when the atria begin to relax
- As the ventricles begin to contract (systole), the pressure increases which causes the blood to move upwards
What causes the closing of the AV valves?
- Swirling action in the blood around the valves when the ventricle is full
What prevents the AV valves opening during ventricular systole?
- Blood fills the valve pockets to keep them closed
- The tendinous chords attached to the valves
What events happens starting from before ventricular systole?
- The pressure in the major arteries is higher than the pressure in the ventricles
- This means the semilunar valves are closed
- Ventricular systole increases the pressure of the ventricles which forces the semilunar valves open
- Once the ventricles have finished contracting, the heart muscle begins to relax (diastole)
- This causes the pressure to drop which pushes the semilunar valves closed
What causes the semilunar valves to close?
The semilunar valves are pushed closed by the blood collecting in the pockets of the valves
Why can cardiac muscle be described as myogenic?
The heart is able to initiate its own contraction
What is fibrillation?
Uncoordinated contraction of the atria and ventricles
What is the Sino-atrial node?
A small patch of tissue that sends out waves of electrical excitation at regular intervals in order to initiate contractions.
The SAN is also known as the pacemaker
What causes the contraction of the atria?
- The wave of excitation spreads over the walls of both atria
- It travels along the membranes of the muscle tissue
- As the wave of excitation passes, it causes the cardiac muscle cells to contract
- This is atrial systole
Why does the excitation from the SAN spread to the ventricles?
The tissue at the base of the atria is unable to conduct the wave of excitation, and so it cannot spread down the ventricle walls.
What is the Atrial-ventricular node?
The only route which that can conduct the wave of excitation through to the ventricles. The wave of excitation is delayed in the node.
Why is there a delay at the AV node?
To allow time for the atria to finish contracting and for the blood to flow down into the ventricles before they begin to contract.
What causes the contraction of the ventricles?
- After the short delay, the wave of excitation is carried away from the AVN and down specialized conducting tissue called PURKYNE TISSYE.
- This runs down the interventricular septum
- At the base of the septum, the wave of excitation spreads out of the walls of the ventricles
- As the excitation spreads upwards from the base (apex) of the ventricles, it causes the muscles to contract
- This means that the ventricles contract from the base upwards
What is Purkyne tissue?
Consists of specially adapted muscle fibers that conduct the wave of excitation from the AVN down the septum to the ventricles
How do electrocardiograms work?
The sensors attached to the skin pick up the electrical excitations by the heart and convert this into a trace
ECG image
draw an ecg
What is Bradycardia?
A slow heart rhythm
What is Tachycardia?
A rapid heart rhythm
What is Atrial Fibrillation?
When the atria beats more frequently than the ventricles. No clear P wave seen.
The typical ECG pattern of AFib shows a chaotic, irregular baseline with no distinct P waves, which are the electrical signals generated by the atria. Instead, the baseline is often undulating and irregular, with a wavy or sawtooth appearance.
What is Ectopic Heartbeat?
An extra or early beat of the ventricles
On an electrocardiogram (ECG), an ectopic heartbeat can be seen as an early, extra QRS complex that occurs before the next expected sinus beat. The QRS complex will often look different from the normal sinus QRS complex, as the ventricular depolarization may be initiated from a different location in the ventricles.
What are the three main factors that influence the need for a transport system?
- Size
- Surface area: volume ratio
- Level of metabolic activity
How does size affect the need for a transport system?
The cells inside a large organism are further from its surface - the diffusion pathway is increased.
The diffusion rate is reduced, and diffusion is too slow to supply all the requirements.
How does the level of metabolic activity affect the need for a transport system?
active organisms need good supplies of nutrients and oxygen to supply the energy for movement
animals that keep themselves warm, such as mammals need even more energy
What are the features of a good transport system?
- A fluid or medium to carry nutrients, oxygen and waste products around the body
- A pump to create pressure that will push the fluid around the body
- Exchange surfaces that enbale substances to enter the blood and leave it again where they are needed.
- Tubes or vessels for mass flow
- Two circuits - one to pick up oxygen and one to deliver it