Cardiovascular System Flashcards
What is the essential role of the cardiovascular system?
meeting the metabolic demands of almost every cell, tissue and organ in the body
What happens to speed of diffusion rates over long distances?
become very slow
Can diffusion meet physiological demands over large distances?
no
What sort of transport system is the cardio vascular system?
bulk/convective transport system
What does the cardiovascular system transport?
respiratory gasses, nutrients, hormonal signals
What organs does the pulmonary circulation provide?
lungs
What processes are supported by systemic circulation?
metabolic
in what part of the cardiovascular system does diffusion occur?
capillaries in tissues and the lungs
Describe the flow of blood through the heart.
deoxygenated blood from the body flows into the right atrium from the vena cava and into the right ventricle, out of the pulmonary artery and to the lungs for exchange of O2 and CO2. From the lungs blood flows through the pulmonary vein into the left atrium and then left ventricle. Blood flows out of the left ventricle into the aorta.
Name the 5 primary functions of the cardiovascular systems.
respiratory gas exchange nutrient supply/waste removal hormonal signalling fluid maintenance body temperature regulation
How does the cardiovascular system regulate body temperature?
brings blood from deep tissues and organs to the skin so heat can be lost during vasodilation. Vasoconstriction reduces blood flow to peripheries so it isn’t lost in this way
What can be done to a sample of blood in a tube to separate it’s contents?
centrifugation
What are the components of blood?
Plasma, white blood cells, red blood cells
How will a sample of centrifuged blood look?
plasma on the top with a buffy coat in the middle of white blood cells. Red blood cells form the bottom layer
What colour is plasma?
straw coloured
what does plasma consist of?
mainly water but, also contains electrolytes, glucose plasma proteins and other organic molecules
What is the total blood volume in an average human?
5l
What is the average plasma volume of a human?
3l
where are most plasma proteins produced?
the liver
what are immunoglobulins produced by?
mature B lymphocytes
what is serum?
plasma with clotting agents removed
What the 3 major fluid compartments of the body?
intracellular, interstitial and vascular
what proportion of body water is intracellular?
2/3
What gradient moves blood around the body?
pressure gradient generated by pump action of heart
what is the resting blood pressure in the left ventricle?
120 mmHg
What structure in the aorta prevents backflow during diastole?
aortic valve
What is the average systolic blood pressure in main arteries?
120 mmHg
What is the average diastolic blood pressure in the main arteries?
80 mmHg
What are the function of the atria?
receives blood from veins
what are the function of the ventricles?
pump blood into arteries
How does the length of the relaxation phase in the heart compare to the length of the contraction phase?
usually twice as long
What is systole?
contraction of the heart
Is blood pressure in veins lower or higher than that in the arteries?
lower - approx 10 mmHg
What are the major types of blood vessel?
arteries (arterioles)
veins
capillaries
What do arterioles control?
entry of blood into capillaries
How do veins compare to arteries?
more elastic and thinner walled
How thick are capillary walls?
single celled
What is the distribution of blood volume in a resting human?
systemic veins and venules: 60-70% pulmonary circulation: 10-12% heart: 8-11% systemic arteries: 10-12% systemic capillaries: 4-5%
how is percentage of blood volume in systemic veins and venules affected by exercize?
much reduced
What does autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system ensure for the body?
metabolic demands of body are met despite changes in activity
What afferent feedback is given from the cardiovascular system?
blood pressure, O2 level, pH level
Why is bulk transport necessary?
diffusion is too slow to meet the metabolic demands of the body
What part of the nervous system is the cardiovascular system under the control of?
autonomic
where does electrical activity in the heart arise from?
sino-atrial node
What sort of cell are all cells in the heart?
muscle cells
In normal hearts how many routes are there for action potential to travel to the ventricles?
one
Is the fibrous septum conductive or non-conductive?
non-conductive
what is the name of the fibres that supply electrical signal to the ventricles down the septum?
purkinje fibres
How long is the duration of a cardiac action potential?
long (300-350 ms)
How does the length of action potential compare between atria and ventricles?
atrial AP is much shorter
How many phases are there of the ventricular action potential?
5 (0-4)
What happens during phase 0 of the ventricular action potential?
due to activation of voltage gated Na+ channels there is an inward current of Na+ (movement towards Na+ equilibrium potential) and a rapid upstroke of action potential
How does the membrane potential change during phase 0 of ventricular action potential?
membrane becomes + (depolarizes) as permeability to sodium increases
What happens during phase 1 of the ventricular action potential?
early repolarisation of the membrane due to inactivation of sodium channels
How does the membrane potential change during phase 1 of ventricular action potential?
starts to become more negative
What is phase 2 of the ventricular action potential known as?
plateau phase
What happens during phase 2 of the ventricular action potential?
plateau phase due to inward current through voltage gated calcium channels.
How quick are calcium channels to activate and inactivate?
slow
What happens during phase 3 of the ventricular action potential?
repolarization brought about by inactivation of calcium channels and increase in membrane permeability to potassium
What happens during phase 4 of the ventricular action potential?
corresponds to the resting membrane potential and is largely determined by permeability to K+
What action triggers Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum?
Ca influx through open gated Ca channels
What process initiates cardiac muscle contraction?
Ca influx through open gated Ca channels triggers Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
What does the inward current of Ca delay?
repolarization
What does delayed repolarization of cardiac myocytes maintain?
plateau phase of ventricular contraction cycle
What is the second part of the plateau phase?
the refractory period
How excitable is the cell while it is depolarized?
it is electrically in excitable
Why is it important that the cell is in-excitable while depolarized?
each action potential only generates a single twitch as tetany would be fatal
What state are sodium channels in during the absolute refractory period?
sodium channels are inactivated
When do sodium channels begin to recover from inactivation ?
as the membrane potential repolarizes from -50mV
What is the process of sodium channels recovering from inactivation called?
relative refractory period
Why do sinoatrial nodes show an unstable resting membrane potential?
combination of slow inward sodium and calcium currents
Which branches of the autonomic nervous system innervate sino-atrial and conduction fibres?
both sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons
How does sympathetic fibre activity accelerate the heart?
noradrenaline binds to beta1-adrenoreceptors resulting in an increased slope of the pacemaker potential
What is the acceleration of heart rate called?
positive chronotropism
How does parasympathetic fibre activity slow the heart?
acetylcholine binds to muscarinic receptors causing a decrease in the slope of the pacemaker potential and also slight hyperpolarisation
What is deceleration of the heart called?
negative chronotropism
What is found within intercalated disks which aid the transfer of electrical signal between myocytes?
gap junctions
Why is the conduction velocity of the AV node relatively slow?
ensures atrial filling of the ventricles is complete before the ventricles contract
What does the electrocardiogram detect?
electrical field around the heart set up by the conduction of action potential throughout the heart
what does the P wave on a ECG show?
atrial depolarisation
What does the QRS complex on a ECG show?
ventricular depolarization
What does the T wave on an ECG show?
ventricular repolarisation
during which of the waves of a ECG does atrial repolarisation occur?
QRS
What occurs during the R wave?
depolarization spreads downwards and outwards from the ventricular septum
What happens in the heart and on the ECG during the ST segment?
ventricles are depolarized and ECG returns to isoelectric line
What happens in the heart during the T wave?
repolarization spreading inwards towards the ventricular septum
Where do action-potentials arrive?
specialised cardiac myocytes in the sinoatrial nodes
What is heart rate controlled by?
changing the rate of diastolic depolarization of pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial node
What is the action potential conducted around the heart by?
conduction system of specialised cardiac myocytes
What phase is the plateau phase?
2
What does Ca influx during phase 2 trigger?
Ca release and cardiac muscle contraction
what does the plateau phase establish?
a relatively long refractory period that prevents sustained contraction and re-entrant arrhythmias
What substances does the ideal gas law apply to?
fluid and gas
what key substance in the body can the ideal gas law be applied to?
blood
What does the ideal gas law state?
as pressure increases volume will reduce
What is the name of the right atrial valve?
tricuspid valve
What is the name of the right aortic valve?
pulmonary artery valve
what is the name of the left atrial valve?
mitral valve
what is the name of the left aortic valve?
aortic valve
How many pumps are contained within the heart?
2
What part of the ECG shows the onset of atrial depolarisation and systole?
P wave
what part of the ECG shows depolarization of ventricles?
QRS complex
When does passive ventricle filling occur?
diastole
What part of the ECG shows pressure decrease in LV and aortic valve closing?
T
Why is it important that the aortic and pulmonary valves close once the pressure in the ventricles decreases?
prevents back flow
What happens to ventricular volume during ventricular filling?
passive filling of ventricles so volume increases
What does ventricular filling end with?
atrial systole
What is isovolumetric contraction?
Ventricle is contracting but the aortic valve remains closed. Pressure is high enough to close mitral valve but not to open aortic valve
What happens during the ejection phase?
aortic valve opens and blood is expelled, volume of ventricles decreases rapidly
What happens during isovolumetric relaxation in the left ventricle?
aortic valve closes, mitral valve remains closed
What is end diastolic volume (EDV)?
volume of ventricles before atrial systole (maximum volume)
Does EDV or ESV describe the maximum ventricular volume?
EDV
Does EDV or ESV describe the minimum ventricular volume?
ESV
What is end systolic volume (ESV)?
volume of ventricles after ventricular systole and before mitral/tricuspid valves reopen
What is the difference between end diastolic volume and end systolic volume known as?
stroke volume
Define stroke volume
volume of blood ejected from each ventricle on each beat
when does the aortic valve open in the left ventricle?
when ventricular pressure is greater than aortic pressure
what phase of ventricular volume changes is started by the opening of the aortic valve?
ejection phase
What pressure changes must take place in the left ventricle before the aortic valve closes?
when ventricular pressure is less than aortic pressure
what pressure changes must take place in the left ventricle before the mitral valve opens?
ventricular pressure is greater than atrial pressure