Cardiovascular System Flashcards
Arteries
Vessels that carry blood away from the heart.
Blood Vessels
Channels that carry blood throughout your body.
Capillaries
Tiny vessels that branch off from arteries to deliver blood to all body tissues. (exchange site between blood and tissues)
Deoxygenated Blood (pulmonary)
Venous blood; Has less oxygen than oxygenated blood. Its color is dark red. It travels through the venous system and pulmonary artery.
body –> right chambers of the heart –> lung
Heart
A muscular pump that forces blood around the body.
Oxygen
The life supporting component of the air.
Oxygenated Blood (systemic)
Arterial blood; After the respiration in the lung, blood has plenty of oxygen, and its color is bright red. Oxygenated blood flows in the pulmonary vein and in the arteries;
lung –> left chambers of the heart –> body
Pulmonary Circulation
Between the heart and lungs, transports deoxygenated blood to the lungs to get oxygen, and then back to the heart.
Systemic Circulation
Carries oxygenated blood away from the heart to the tissues and cells, and then back to the heart.
Veins
Carries blood towards the heart.
Size of Heart
About the size of a fist
How many chambers does the heart have?
4 chambers
Location of heart
Located in the mediastinum in the left-center of the chest cavity
Apex
The tip of the heart at the lower edge
How many chambers does the heart have?
4 chambers
2 atria; upper chambers
2 ventricles; lower chambers
Myocardium
Thick, muscular middle layer of the heart;
contraction of this muscle layer develops the pressure required to pump blood through the blood vessels
Pericardium
Double-layered pleural sac that encloses the heart
Atria
The receiving chambers of the heart; blood returning to the heart via veins firsts collects in the atria
Ventricles
The pumping chambers; they have a much thicker myocardium and their contraction ejects blood out of the heart and into the great arteries
Tricuspid Valve
An atrioventricular valve (AV); it controls the opening between the right atrium and the right ventricle. Once the blood enters the right ventricle, it cannot go back up into the atrium again. This valve has three (tri) leaflets or cusps.
Pulmonary Valve
A semilunar valve; looks like a half-moon. Located between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery, this valve prevents blood that has been ejected into the pulmonary artery from returning to the right ventricle as it relaxes.
Mitral Valve
Also called the bicuspid valve, has two cusps. Blood flows through this atrioventricular valve to the left ventricle and cannot go back up into the left atrium.
Aortic Valve
A semilunar valve located between the left ventricle and the aorta. Blood leaves the left ventricle through this valve and cannot return to the left ventricle.
Blood Pressure
A measurement of the force exerted by blood against the wall of a blood vessel.
Pulse
The surge of blood caused by the heart contracting. (felt at the wrist or neck)
