Heart Histology Flashcards
Which two layers make up the pericardium?
Visceral (inner pericardium)
Parietal (outer pericardium)
What is the function of the endomysium?
It is a wispy layer of connective tissue in the myocardium, that ensheaths each individual muscle fibre.
It contains capillaries and nerves.
Name the 3 layers that make up the walls of blood vessels
Tunica intima- inner layer
Tunica media- mid layer
Tunica adventitia- outer layer
In which fashion is the elastic tissue and smooth muscle arranged in the tunica media of arteries
Concentric fashion (lamellar)
What is the name given to the subsets of arterioles that allow blood flow to bypass a capillary and flow directly from pre-capillary arteriole to post-capillary venule?
Metarterioles (or through channels)
What are pericytes?
Cells that wrap around the endothelial cells of capillaries and venues, and are embedded in the basement membrane.
They are able to differentiate into specific cells eg fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells if the cell is damaged.
Which node acts as the pacemaker of the heart and generates an action potential?
Sinoatrial node
What is the name give to the small offshoot from the interventricular septum to the right ventricular wall?
Septomarginal band
Where does each ventricle deliver blood to?
Left-aorta
Right-pulmonary artery
Skeletal muscle can undergo temporal summation, what is this?
Multiple action potentials within the space of one muscle contraction
Why are atrial action potentials shorter than ventricular action potentials?
- The slow calcium ion channels stay open for less time
2. The potassium ion channels close for less time
“Funny” sodium ion channels are found where?
Pacemaker cells
What is the pacemaker action potential referred to as?
Slow action potential
Why is spontaneous depolarisation slower in the AV node than the SA node?
What is the purpose of it being slower?
Narrow fibre diameter
To allow the atria to contract
Why do AV node cells have a longer refractory period than normal cells?
To protect the ventricles from beating too quickly.
To prevent the impulse from ‘circling back’ into the atria.
What is the name given to the difference in pressure between two points in a blood vessel?
Perfusion pressure
Where is the source of energy for bulk flow derived from?
Hydrostatic pressure difference
What is the definition of cardiac output?
The amount of blood pumped by one ventricle in a minute.
Each ventricle pumps the same volume of blood in a minute.
What is the name given to the muscles which attach to the cusps in the heart?
How do they attach?
Papillary muscles
Chordae tendinae
What function do the Chordae tendinae have?
Prevent the cusps from everting into the aria during ventricular systole
What is the definition of diapedesis?
The movement of cells out of the vessel lumen
Which type of epithelium forms the endocardium?
Simple squamous
Where are purkinje fibres found?
Sub-endothelium
What does each wave represent on an ECG?
P wave- atrial depolarisation (positive)
Q wave- early ventricular depolarisation (normally negative as impulse moves left to right)
R wave- ventricular depolarisation (positive charge)
S wave- late ventricular depolarisation (charge returns to zero or negative)
T wave- ventricular repolarisation (unpredictable pattern, may be positive or negative)
What do each of the following represent: Tall P wave Wide P wave Tall R wave Wide R wave
Tall P wave= P pulmonale (right atrial enlargement)
Wide P wave= P mitrale (left atrial enlargement)
Tall R wave= ventricular enlargement
Wide R wave= left ventricular enlargement and hypertrophy
Somatic nervous system:
Conscious control of actions
Skeletal muscle
Autonomic nervous system:
Maintains homeostasis
Cardiac muscle
Smooth muscle
Splits into parasympathetic (rest and digest) and sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system
Somatic nervous system-which fibres are present here?
Efferent motor nerves
Digestibility equation:
Digestibility = amount ingested-amount in faeces X100
(%) of a nutrient Amount ingested
or energy
What are heart sounds caused by?
Movement of blood within the heart
Of the 4 heart sounds (S1, S2, S3, S4), which are audible in the healthy animal?
S1 and S2
S3 and S4 are also heard in horses (large heart size)
S3 heard in dogs and cats with heart failure
S4 heard in smalls with impaired relaxation of ventricles
What can be heard during S1?
Blood rebounding off ventricular walls and being squeezed into aorta
What can be heard during S2?
Blood reverberating in great vessels (after pulmonary and aortic valves have closed)
What can be heard in S3?
Blood turbulence in left ventricle as blood flows in from atria under pressure
Reduced compliance of left ventricle
What can be heard in S4?
Impaired relaxation of ventricular wall
Caused by increased force of atrial contraction to overcome the slow relaxation of the ventricles
If S3 and S4 are audible in cats or dogs, what is it referred to?
A ‘gallop rhythm’
What is a murmur?
Abnormal turbulence within the heart or great vessels
Where would you hear the tricuspid valve?
Right axilla, rib space 5
Where would you hear the:
Pulmonary valve
Aortic valve
Mitral valve
Left axilla for all
Pulmonary valve=rib space 3
Aortic valve=rib space 4
Mitral valve=rib space 5
Which vessel is the venous blood of the heart drained by?
Great cardiac vein, opens into the right atrium via the coronary sinus
Small Thebesian veins drain directly into all 4 heart chambers