L13 The Heart Flashcards
What is the pericardium?
Pericardium is a protective, fluid-filled sac that surrounds heart
Acts like a protective bubble for your heart. Reduces friction as it beats
How many chambers are within the heart?
4 chambers
What does the right atrium (RA) receive?
Deoxygenated systemtic venous return
Where does the right ventricle (RV) push blood to?
Pushes blood to pulmonary circulation for oxygenation
Where does the left atrium (LA) receive oxygenated blood from?
From pulmonary circulation
Where does the left ventricle (LV) pump oxygenated blood to?
Pushes blood to head and body under high pressure
What does the work pulmonary refer to?
Refers to anything related to lungs
How many circulations are there within the heart?
Pulmonary and systemic circulation
Pulmonary ( between heart and lungs)
Systemic ( between heart and body)
What do valves do?
Valves control unidirectional blood flow in cardiac cycle
What are the two atrioventricular valves called?
Mitral and tricuspid
What are the two semilunar valves called?
Aortic valve
Pulmonary valve
What is chordae tendinae?
They are thin, strong cords of fibrous connective tissue
What connects the atrioventricular valves to the cardiac walls?
Chordae tendinae and papillary muscles
What is the heart wall made of?
Endocardium - outermost
Myocardium
Epicardium
What are conducting cells?
They are a group of cells that are responsible for rapidly generating action potentials (AP)
Specialised cardiac cells
What are contractile cells?
They are responsible for contraction of the heart via action potentials (AP)
What is the link between the electrical signals and contraction of the myocytes (excitation - contraction coupling)?
Calcium ion release
Give me a structural property of the myocardium
Has extensively branched muscle fibre cell - connected by intercalated discs (ID)
What do gap junctions (GJ) do?
They facilitate the depolarisation current flow from cell to cell
What do Desmosomes do?
They act as strong anchoring points between the cells
anchor fibres together