Case 4 Flashcards
What are the roles of the cardiovascular system?
- Blood flow to tissues and organs (supply and demand)
- Homeostasis
Transport of hormones and signalling molecules
Is there a direct connection between the two sides of the heart?
There is no direct connection with in adults (usually)
Where does the heart pump blood to?
- Left side pumps into the aorta (systemic)
- Right side pumps to the pulmonary artery
Which side of the heart is more prone to problems?
The left side (especially due to pressure)
How does uidrectional blood flow in the heart occur?
- The valves prevent the back flow of blood
Why does pressure drop in the circulation?
- Difference in pressure between aorta (highest) and vena cava (lowest)
- Energy is lost from the blood to the vessel wall resistance
- Blood flow through each circulation is proportional to pressure gradient
What happens if you increase resistance to blood flow?
Make sit more difficult for the heart to pump blood to the peripheries
What determines resistance (R) to blood flow?
The radius (r) of the arterioles
What is stroke volume?
- Volume of blood pumped by one ventricle
- ~75mls
What is cardiac output (CO)?
- Volume pumped per ventricle per minute
- 5L/min
What is venous return (VR)?
- Volume of blood returning to the heart
- VR should equal CO
What are intercalated disc?
- Junction between adjacent cells
- Packed filled with proteins that form gap junctions (allows electricity to move quickly)
What is the SAN?
- a small group of cells
- one of few cells in the body that can spontaneously produce electricity- intrinsic property
How is electrical energy spread in the heart?
- spontaneous depolarisation of the san (don’t see on ecg)
- comes out of san and spreads through the atria
- atria contracts (atria systole)
- av node depolarises and passes electricity down the ventricles - av node delay - allows atria muscle to contract to push more blood into the ventricles
- av node passes depolarisation down the interventricular septum
- then ventricular depolarisation occurs and then a wave of contraction follows it pushing the blood up and out of the heart
What is the role of the annulus fibrosis?
- Non-conducting layer between atria and ventricles
- Electrically insulated the chambers from each other
What is the P wave?
Atrial depolarisation
What is the PR(Q) interval?
Interval between beginning of excitability of atria and ventricles (~0.16s)
What is the QRS complex?
Ventricular depolarisation
Atrial repolarisation occurs but is obscured
What is the Q-T interval?
Contraction occurring (~0.35s) but also includes ventricular repolarisation
What is the S-T segment?
All ventricular tissue depolarised, contraction occurring
What is the T wave?
Ventricular repolarisation
How to calculate cardiac output?
HR X SV
What helps venous return?
- Skeletal muscle pump/ contractions
- Respiratory pump
What are the neurotransmitters that affect the SAN?
- sympathetic system - noradrenaline/ adrenaline
- parasympathetic- acetylcholine/ muscarinic receptors
How do sympathetic nerves affect heart rate?
- activation causes release of noradrenaline - binds to B1 adrenoceotors on the cardiac pacemaker and myocyte cell membrane
- increases opening of HCN channels in pacemaker cells - increase Na+ influx
- opens Ca2+ channels
- increase in slip of prepotential (phase 4)
- heart rate increases
What are HCN channels?
Channels that control the release of sodium into the cell and when activated allows depolarisation to occur quicker
How do parasympathetic nerves affect the heart rate?
- activation causes release of acetylcholine - binds to muscarinic cholinergic receptors
- decrease opening of HCN channels - decrease Na+ influx
- slows opening of Ca2+ channels
- opens additional K+ channels (ligand gated)
- hyperpolarises membrane and reduces slope of prepotential
- heart rate decreases
- the parasympathetic nerves constantly affect the SAN and is a very quick response
What are the sequence of mechanical events in the cardiac cycle?
- Ventricular filling
- Atrial contraction
- Isovolumetric ventricular contraction
- Ventricular ejection
- Isovolumetric ventricular relaxation
What controls stroke volume?
- contractility
- preload (degree of stretch)
What is contractility?
Symapthetic nerves and calcium can change contractility (effected by mechanisms extrinsic to the heart)
It is changes in SV w/out changes in resting ventricular muscle fibre length
What is preload?
- Degree is stretch in the ventricles due to end diastolic pressure - dependent on end diastolic volume
- Changes in stroke volume dependant on resting ventricular muscle fibre length
- Mechanism intrinsic to the heart
What is cardiac workload?
Mechanisms regulating force of contraction and workload may be: heterometric (intrinsic) or homeometric (extrinsic)
What is starlings law of the heart?
Force of contraction is proportional to the initial fibre length in diastole
Almost empty chamber (low preload) -actin and myosin overlap is not optimal/ reduces ability to contract
Full ventricle (high preload) - some stretching of ventricular muscles/ optimum cross bridges available/ increased affinity of troponin C to Ca2+/ maximal force produced
Over full heart (heart failure) - actin and myosin are physically separated therefor preventing interaction so a reduced force is generated
What is the level of stretch of the heart determined by?
Venous return and the filling of the ventricle
Effects of sympathetic nerve stimulation on the heart:
- increased in stroke volume without a change in initial fibre length
- increased contractility - positive inotropic effect
Anything that is a beta1 agonist will increase contractility
What controls Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP)?
- Blood volume
- Effectiveness of the heart as a pump (CO)!! - determined by heart rate and stroke volume
- Resistance of the system to blood flow!! - determined by diameter of arterioles
- Relative distribution of blood between arterial and venous blood vessels
How do you calculate MAP?
MAP = CO X TPR (total peripheral resistance)
What do baroreceptors do?
Detect changes in blood pressure and makes sure they’re kept within the appropriate range
When would you offer ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM)?
Offer it if the clinical BP is between 140:90 mmHg and 180/120mmHg to confirm the diagnosis of hypertension
What is the blood pressure measurement that confirms hypertension?
- Clinic blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher (150/90 mmHg for adults ages 80 and over)
- ABPM daytime average or HBPM average of 135/85 mmHg or higher (145/85 mmHg for adults aged 80 and over)
What is stage 1 hypertension?
Clinic blood pressure ranging from 140/90 mmHg to 159/99 mmHg and subsequent ABPM daytime average or HBPM average BP ranging from 135/85 mmHg to 149/94 mmHg
What is stage 2 hypertension?
Clinic BP of 160/100 mmHg or higher but less than 180/120 mmHg and subsequent ABPM daytime average or HBPM average BP of 150/95 mmHg or higher
Which type of hypertension usually has no identifiable cause and develops gradually over years?
Essential hypertension
What are some recognised links (causes) to secondary hypertension?
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Thyroid disease
- Sleep apnoea (secondary cause)
Which type of hypertension doesn’t have a genetic link?
Secondary hypertension
What mechanisms should prevent elevations in arterial BP?
Baroreceptors should detect the change and increase nerve activity to activate the parasympathetic system to decrease the blood pressure
Nerve activity however reduces with sustained high blood pressure
What is atherosclerosis?
The build up of fatty plaques in the arteries
What is the mechanism of action of calcium channel blockers?
- They inhibit the influx of calcium ions
- They act on: myocardial muscles (inhibit contractility); myocardial conducting system (inhibit formation and propagation of depolarisation); vascular smooth muscle (coronary or systematic vascular tone reduced/ vascodilation)
What is the pharmacokinetics of calcium channel blockers?
- oral route: bioavailability 60%
- Half-life of amlodopine 30-50hrs
- Steady-state plasma concentrations - 7-8 days of daily dosing
- Liver CYP450 - slowly metabolised
- Renal elimination but poor renal function does not significantly reduce elimination
What is the mechanism of action if ACE inhibitors?
Inhibits the angiotensin-converting enzyme in the renin-angiotensin system
What is the pharmacokinetics of lisinopril?
- Oral administration: 25% bioavailability
- Peak plasma conc: 4-8h - half life 12h
- Water soluble - not metabolised in the liver and undergoes renal excretion unchanged
What is the first line treatment of hypertension for those over 55?
Calcium channel blockers - for those of Afro Caribbean decent too
What is the first line treatment of hypertension for those under 55?
ACE inhibitors
What is the mechanism of action of ARBs?
Selective competitive blockers of angiotensin II at the AT1 receptor