CV System Physiology 1 Flashcards
What blood vessel is involved in nutrient and waste exchange?
Capillaries. Their walls are thin enough to allow for exchange.
What are the 3 types of capillaries?
Continuous
Fenestrated
Sinusoidal
What type of capillary excludes proteins and cells from passing through?
Continuous
What type of capillary excludes cells? Where are they found?
Fenestrated. Found in the kidney
What type of capillary allows cells and protein to pass through? Where are they found?
Sinusoidal/discontinuous. Found in liver, bone marrow, spleen
What three layers are found in all blood vessels except capillaries?
(1) Tunica intima or interna
(2) Tunica media
(3) Tunica adventitia or externa
What property of blood vessels helps push blood through arteriole system?
Elastic tissue
What property of blood vessels does smooth muscle provide?
Its ability to contract and dilate allows blood to be shunted from one area to another
What protects blood vessels against distention?
The fibrous nature of the tissue
Which blood vessel layer contains collagen and elastic fibers?
Tunica adventitia
Capillaries are comprised of only one of these layers; which is it?
Tunica intima
Which blood vessel layer contains smooth muscle and thus is responsible for vasoconstriction and vasodilation?
Tunica media
What types of blood vessels are resistance vessels due to their smooth muscle?
Arteries and arterioles. Veins lack smooth muscle.
Which layer holds the vaso vasorum seen in larger vessels?
Tunica adventitia
Cardiac muscle is what kind of muscle
Involuntary striated with light (I bands) and dark (A bands) cross bands
Myocardial cells have more of this organelle due to its high oxidative capacity
Mitochondria. Oxidative phosphorylation occurs within the mitochondria.
What cellular feature allows the heart to contract in unison?
The presence of gap junctions between muscle cells allows for easy communication between myocytes.
How do T-tubules differ between cardiac and skeletal muscle cells?
Cardiac: T-tubules contain extracellular fluid high in calcium
Skeletal: T-tubules contain extracellular fluid low in calcium
What structure brings depolarization inside the cardiac muscle and helps regulate cytoplasmic calcium?
T tubules
What prevents tetanic contraction in cardiac muscle?
The long cardiac action potential
What aspect of the action potential prevents a second action potential from taking place?
The long refractory period or plateau period
True or false: the signal for myocardial contraction comes from the nervous system?
False - it comes from auto-rhythmic cells, also called pacemakers.
What is the originator of the cardiac action potential?
The SA node
The majority of calcium used in the heart for muscle contraction comes from what source?
The sarcoplasmic reticulum
What is the name of a chemical that affects the contractility of the heart?
An inotropic agent
Give an example of an inotropic agent that has a positive inotropic effect
Epinephrine, norepinephrine, digitalis. These all increase the force of muscle contractions.
What property allows the SA node to function as the primary pacemaker?
The small size of the cells allow for it to spontaneously depolarize
What acts as a delay station for the action potential?
The AV node.
Why does the AV node delay the action potential?
To allow the atrial muscle to depolarize before the ventricular muscle
What can act as a secondary pacemaker in pathological conditions?
The AV node (Because the SA node is compromised)
What allows for rapid conduction of the action potential?
Bundle of his
Bundle branch
Purkinje fibers specialized tracts
What is the sequence of the electrical impulse in the heart?
SA node –> specialized tracts –> AV node and atrial muscle –> Bundle of his –> bundle branches –> Purkinje fibers –> ventricle muscle
From what system does the SA node get the signal to depress the heart rate?
Parasympathetic nervous system
How does the sympathetic nervous system affect conduction through the electrical system?
It speeds up conduction of the action potential and therefore increases heart rate
What nerve has the greatest influence on the heart?
The vagus nerve
What is the affect of vagal stimulation on the heart?
It serves to slow the conduction of action potentials through the AV node due to the parasympathetic nerve fibers it carries
What is the function of the papillary muscle?
They prevent the A-V valves from bulging too far backwards during the pressure of ventricular contraction and thus preventing lethal blood leaking
What causes the A-V valves to open after systole?
The difference between higher pressure in the atria and lower pressure in the ventricle
How does norepinephrine affect heart contractility?
It increases it. Norepi is a positive inotropic agent.
In which phase do the ventricles fill?
Late diastole
In which phase do we get isovolumic contraction?
Early systole. Isovolumetric contraction refers to the period when the ventricles contract but the volume does not change.
What phase of the cardiac cycle uses up most energy?
The isovolumic contraction of early systole. Because this is when the ventricles eject blood into the aorta and pulmonary trunk.
What is the purpose of isovolumic contraction?
To build up the pressure to overcome the high aortic pressure