Cardiovascular Physiology Flashcards
what is cardiac infarct?
formation of dense wedge-shaped block of dead tissue in heart muscle following interruption to blood supply
what is single circulation?
blood flows through heart once during each trip around body
what is double circulation?
blood flows from heart to lungs for gas exchange then back to heart to be re-pressurised before flowing to rest of body- flows through heart twice
what blood vessels take blood away from heart?
arteries
what blood vessels have highest blood pressures?
arteries
what artery takes blood away from the heart? (systemic circulation)
aorta
what does blood return to the right side of the heart via?
superior and inferior vena cava
what vessel carries blood from heart to lungs?
pulmonary artery
what returns oxygenated pulmonary blood to left atrium?
pulmonary veins
where is the heart located?
within pericardial sac
what is the lower surface of the pericardial sac attached to?
diaphragm
what holds the cardiac valves?
the annulus fibrosus
what forms the AV valves?
thin flaps of tissue joined at the base of the connective ring
what do the AV valve flaps connect to?
the chordae tendinar- collagenous tendons tethered to papillary muscle
what is the role of the chordae tendinae?
prevent AV valves from being pushed back into atrium
what is the mitral valve?
AV valve separating LA from LV
what is the tricuspid valve?
AV valve separating RA from RV
where is the aortic valve?
between left ventricle and aorta
where is the pulmonary valve?
between right ventricle and pulmonary artery
what part of the SL valves stops blood from flowing back into ventricles?
both have 3 cup-like leaflets which snap closed when filled with blood trying to flow backwards
why don’t SL valves have chordae tendinae?
due to their shape they don’t need them
what is the 3 layer general structure of all blood vessels (except capillaries)?
tunica intima, tunica media, tunica adventitia
what form the tunica intima?
thin layer of endothelial cells and elastic connective tissue
what forms the tunica media?
dense population of smooth muscle cells organised concentrically with bands/fibres of elastic tissue
what makes up the tunica adventitia?
collagenous extracellular matrix containing fibroblasts, blood vessels, nerves
function of the tunica adventitia?
add rigidity and form to the blood vessel
why do large elastic arteries have a large tunica media?
to expand and recoil during ventricular contraction and relaxation, smoothing the pressure changes so vessels can temporarily store energy
how close to a capillary are almost all cells in the body?
within at least 10µm
why do venules and veins have valves?
prevent blood flowing backwards
relative thickness of venule/vein walls?
thin
why do venules and veins have a low resistance?
large cross-sectional area
how much of the blood is held in veins?
about 2/3
can veins contract?
only some
what is the function of venoconstriction?
aids venous return thereby helping to maintain cardiac output
what is the supply of oxygenated fetal blood dependent on within the womb?
placenta
why does the fetus need adaptations that allow greater oxygen binding?
limited oxygen delivery to fetus from placenta
what are the adaptations of fetal haemoglobin?
high O2 affinity- can bind greater concentrations of oxygen, relinquishes bound oxygen at lower PO2
what are the adaptations in fetal circulation for oxygen delivery?
has shunts to ensure adequate supply of oxygenated blood to tissues most at risk of hypoxic damage- like brain
what are the fetal shunts?
ductus venosus, foramen ovale, ductus arteriosus
where does the ductus venosus shunt blood?
from placenta to fetal heart bypassing liver circulation
where does oxygenated blood from the placenta travel to?
through umbilical cord to right atrium of fetal heart
what shunts blood from right atrium to left atrium, bypassing the fetal lungs?
foramen ovale
what shunts blood from pulmonary artery to descending aorta, bypassing the fetal lungs?
ductus arteriosus
what is the cardiac cycle?
all of the events associated with blood flow through the heart during 1 complete heartbeat
what takes place in the cardiac cycle?
ventricles (L & R) contract synchronously (systole), whole heart relaxes (diastole) (ventricles refill), atria (L&R) contract together providing ventricles with more blood, ventricles contract again
what happens in atrial systole?
last 20% of filling of ventricles due to atria contracting- opens AV valves, forces additional blood into ventricles- called the atrial kick. small amount of blood forced backwards in venae cavae- can be seen as pulse in jugular vein of normal person lying with head and neck elevated about 30%
what is the atrial kick/boost?
the additional blood forced into the ventricles when the atria contract
what is isovolumetric contraction?
ventricular contraction without any change in ventricular volume- forces AV valves closed, pressure builds up in ventricles without changing ventricular volume
what are the phases of the cardiac cycle?
atrial systole, isovolumetric contraction, ventricular ejection, isovolumetric relaxation, late diastole
what happens in ventricular ejection?
as ventricles contract they generate enough pressure to open the SL valves, blood ejected into arteries, driven by pressure generated by ventricles. high pressure blood forced into arteries pushing low pressure blood that fills them further into the vasculature, ventricular blood enters aorta faster than it can leave so arterial pressure rises, large elastic arteries become distended with blood
what happens in isovolumetric relaxation?
ventricles begin to relax leading to rapid fall in ventricular volume and pressure, as ventricular pressure falls below aortic, small amount of blood flows backward and closes aortic valve- brief rise in arterial pressure (dicrotic notch), final 1/3 of ventricular blood flows away from heart against pressure gradient due to kinetic energy
what is the dicrotic notch?
brief rise in arterial pressure in isometric relaxation as aortic valve closes
what does stroke volume measure?
overall change in ventricular volume during phases 3 and 4 of cardiac cycle
what happens in late diastole?
both sets of chambers relaxed, ventricles begin to fill with blood passively before atrial systole and beginning of new cycle
what is the simplest direct method of assessment of heart function?
auscultation- listening through chest wall
how many audible sounds are there usually in auscultation? what causes them?
2- 1st from closure of AV valves, 2nd from closure of SL valves
what may be heard through auscultation in abnormal conditions?
3rd sound (gallops), clicking caused by abnormal valve movement, murmurs caused by blood leaking through incompletely closed valve- valvular incompetence
what does EMG stand for?
electromyogram
what is an EMG?
recording of electrical activity when muscle contracted - by placing 2 electrodes 2cm apart over biceps
what does EEG stand for?
electroencephalogram
what is an EEG?
recording of electrical activity relating to neuronal activity- by placing 2 electrodes on skull
what is an ERG?
electroretinogram- electrodes placed on eye to detect neuronal activity caused by light flashes
what is an ECG?
electrocardiogram- electrodes placed over heart to record electrical events coupled to mechanical events in cardiac cycle
what are the 2 major components of an ECG?
waves and segments- waves= deflections above and below baseline and segments= sections of baseline between 2 waves
what are the 3 main waves on a normal ECG?
P wave (corresponds to atrial depolarisation), QRS complex (trio of waves representing ventricular depolarisation), T wave (represent ventricular repolarisation)
why is atrial repolarisation not represented in a normal ECG?
it is masked by the QRS complex (ventricular depolarisation)
what interval is an accurate measure of heart rate in an ECG?
R-R interval
what usually causes long Q-T syndromes?
inherited channelopathies- mutations in myocardial Na+ and K+ channels
what is a cardiac pressure-volume loop?
plot of changes in pressure against changes in volume
what is the end diastolic volume?
volume in the ventricles after the atria contract and ventricle has finished relaxing- when maximal filling has occurred
what is the end systolic volume?
amount of blood left in the heart at the end of ventricular contraction
what does the width of the cardiac pressure-volume loop represent?
stroke volume
what does the area within the cardiac pressure-volume loop represent?
the ventricular stroke work
why is left ventricular emptying impaired in aortic stenosis?
high outflow resistance caused by reduction in valve orifice area when it opens, causes large pressure gradient to occur across aortic valve during ejection so peak systolic pressure within ventricle greatly increased
what is contractility of the heart dependent on?
the degree to which myocytes are stretched
what is EDV?
end diastolic volume
what is the end diastolic volume?
the amount of blood left at the end of the cardiac filling phase
what is ESV?
end systolic volume
what is the end systolic volume?
amount of blood left at the end of the ejection phase
what is preload?
the end diastolic pressure in the ventricles- measure of cardiac filling
what is afterload?
peripheral resistance
what happens in peripheral resistance and heart rate are kept constant and preload (cardiac filling) is increased?
CO increases due to increased stroke volume, left ventricular and aortic pressures increase as greater volume of blood being ejected against same resistance, end diastolic volume increased as ventricles stretch, force of contraction increases in response to stretch
what is the Frank-Starling mechanism?
when the heart increases the force of contraction in response to elongation or stretch
what is the Starling Law of the heart?
the energy of contraction is a function of the length of the muscle fibre
what happens in heart rate and filling pressures are kept constant and peripheral resistance (afterload) is increased?
heart finds it harder to force blood through system, aortic and left ventricular pressures increase, initially SV and CO fall, less complete emptying of ventricles in ejection increases ESV, EDV increases- which increases CO so CO recovers
what is the Anrep effect?
an autoregulation method in which myocardial activity increases alongside afterload
what causes the Anrep effect?
sustained myocardial stretch activates tension dependent Na+/H+ exchangers bringing Na+ ions into the sarcolemma. this reduces the Na+ gradient, stops the sodium-calcium exchanger from working effectively so Ca2+ ions accumulate in the sarcolemma and are uptaken by SERCA pumps, CICR from the SR is increased on stimulation of the cardiac myocyte from an AP so increased fore of contraction of cardiac muscle- increases SV and CO
where do the nerves that innervate the heart originate from?
cardiovascular centre in medulla oblongata
sympathetic influences on the heart?
cardiac accelerator nerves from thoracic region of spinal cord -> SAN, AVN and most portions of myocardium; impulses in cardiac accelerator nerves release noradrenaline- binds to beta1 receptors on cardiac muscle fibres, increases frequency of contraction at SAN and contractile fibres in ventricles
parasympathetic influences on the heart?
reach heart via right and left vagus nerves. release ACh which acts on muscarinic receptors at the SA and AV nodes and on atrial myocardium. ACh reduces heart rate, little or no effect on contractility of ventricles in most species
endocrine influences on the heart?
some hormones affect SAN and contractility of ventricles- most common is adrenaline released from medulla of adrenal gland- also acts on cardiac beta1 receptors to increase frequency and force of contraction, maintaining neurally-mediated sympathetic effects
what is the pacemaker potential?
the spontaneous slowly increasing potential of the SA node
how do sympathetic and parasympathetic influences affect pacemaker potential to change heart rate?
sympathetic increases the pacemaker slope- takes less time to reach threshold value- parasympathetic does the opposite
what is Darcy’s law of flow?
flow in steady state is linearly proportional to pressure difference between 2 points and inversely proportional to resistance
what is the perfusion pressure?
pressure difference between the arteries that supply a region and veins that drain it
what is vascular resistance?
resistance in circulation
what is vascular resistance inversely proportional to?
blood flow
what is blood flow equal to in the cardiovascular system?
perfusion pressure/vascular resistance
relationship between CO, BP and vascular resistance?
CO = BP/vascular resistance
what determine cardiac output?
amount of blood pumped out of each ventricle per beat (SV) and how fast it is pumped out (heart rate)
what is relationship between CO, SV and heart rate?
CO = SV x heart rate
what causes vascular resistance?
friction against vessel wall, radius of tube, length of tube, viscosity of fluid
what determines blood viscosity and how can it be calculated?
ratio of RBCs to plasma, can be calculated by haematocrit
what is the Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect?
viscosity of fluid decrease with decrease in diameter of tube it travels through
what causes the Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect?
erythrocytes move to centre of vessel leaving plasma at wall of vessel. so effective viscosity of cell-free layer lower than tat of whole blood, acts to reduce resistance to blood flow
what variable affects vascular resistance the most?
vessel radius
what is vasomotion?
changes in vessel diameter
what is vasoconstriction?
decrease in vessel diameter
what is vasodilation?
increase in vessel diameter
what characterises sympathetic nerves?
short pre-ganglionic fibre and long post-ganglionic fibre
pre-ganglionic neurotransmitter in sympathetic nerves?
ACh
post-ganglionic neurotransmitter in sympathetic nerves?
noradrenaline
effect of sympathetic nervous system on total peripheral resistance?
maintains it by tonically causing vasoconstriction
effect of noradrenaline on blood vessels?
causes vasoconstriction
which is more innervated, arterioles or venules?
arterioles
what is the result of increased arteriole constriction?
increased total peripheral vascular resistance and increased arterial blood pressure
result of increased constriction of venules?
increase in venous return
what is the most efficient method to dilate a blood vessel?
to withdraw/inhibit sympathetic tone
effect of adrenaline on blood vessels?
constricts some circulations and dilates others- mostly vasoconstriction in peripheral circulations to maintain ABP, may cause dilatation in skeletal muscle- need more O2 and nutrients for fight or flight
role of endothelium in promoting changes in peripheral vascular tone?
vasodilator arterial response to ACh changes to vasoconstrictor response if endothelial lining rubbed away- ACh stimulates endothelium to produce nitric oxide- causes vasodilatation rather than ACh causing it directly
how is NO produced by endothelial cells?
cleavage from arginine by NO synthase
what regulates activity of NO synthase, what is the effect of this?
level of intracellular Ca2+-calmodulin complex- agents that promote extracellular Ca2+ entry into endothelial cells increase rate of NO synthesis
what is a sphygmomanometer used for?
to estimate arterial blood pressure
what causes Korotkoff sound?
pressure cuff compresses artery, blood squeezing through causes Korotkoff sound
what is the systolic pressure recorded as when using a sphygmomanometer?
the pressure at which Korotkoff sound first heard
what is the diastolic pressure recorded as using a sphygmomanometer?
the pressure at which Korotkoff sound disappears
how is mean arterial blood pressure calculated?
diastolic plus a third of the difference between systolic and diastolic
what is arterial stiffness?
measure of the rigidity of blood vessels
what causes blood vessels to become rigid?
deposits of calcium and collagen with ageing and disease
what does increased pulsatility signify?
increased vascular resistance
simplest reflex arc model?
sensor sends information to brainstem via afferent pathways, brainstem integrates information and sends commands to effector organs via efferent pathways
what sensors control blood pressure?
baroreceptors and chemoreceptors