Lecture 3: Cardiac Cycle & Heart Sounds Flashcards
Systole
Contraction of the heart
Systole can be divided into?
- Atrial systole (atria contracting)
- Ventricular systole (ventricles contracting)
Diastole
Relaxation of the heart; common to refer to ventricular diastole, but the atria do relax too.
Blood pressure is always written as?
Systolic/Diastolic
Unlike skeletal muscle cardiac muscle can generate its own?
Action potentials
In the heart, the specialized tissue of the _______ and the _______ spontaneously depolarize and generate the action potential that causes contraction of cardiac muscle
SA node and AV node
In a healthy heart the ________ is the only source of excitation of the ventricles?
The AV node
Under normal conditions which node reaches threshold faster; and is therefore referred to as what?
The SA node; serves as the pacemaker
What does sinus rhythm refer to?
The SA node is driving the heart (pacemaker)
What two things occur after the SA node generates the AP?
1) AP depolarized the atria using gap junctions
2) AP travels to the AV node via an internodal pathway.
What kind of cells are found in the internodal pathway?
Specialized cardiac muscle cells that are good at conduction; not quite nerve, but functon similarly
What’s the condunction velocity in the AV node like; what does this cause?
Slows so there is a ‘pause’ between depolarization of the atria and that of the ventricles. Leads to a delay before ventricular contraction
Once the AV node transmits the AP to the ventricles, what helps further carry this AP for depolarization?
Specialized cardiac muscle (the bundle branches and purkinje fibers)
The bundle branches and purkinje fibers transmit the AP and depolarize which parts of the ventricle?
1) Septum
2) Free walls of both ventricles starting from the apex back up
What helps spread the AP through the atria once the SA node fires?
Gap junctions
The last to depolarize is the first to?
Repolarize
Since the atria depolarize first, they contract fist, which causes?
Increased pressure in the atria, driving blood from the atria to the ventricles through the open valves.
The ventricular pressure _______ as blood is pushed from the atria into the ventricles?
increases
After the atria contract and begin to relax, the ventricles?
Start to contract
Which part of the ventricle contracts first; causes it to?
The septum since it was depolarized first, causes it to ‘stiffen.’
Which part of the ventricle contracts second and what does this lead to?
The walls of the ventricles, squeezing blood in the chambers, and increasing the pressure in the ventricles.
Why is the atrial pressure increasing during ventricular systole?
Blood continues to return to the heart (venous return) during the period of ventricular systole, but can’t move into the ventricles because of the ventricular contraction. This causes the atrial pressure to increase.
What are the pressures in the ventricle at the lowest and the highest?
Lowest = 0 mmHg
Highest = 120 mmHg
Why is the aortic pressure quite a bit above the atrial and ventricular pressures?
The amount of blood leaving the aorta is being controlled by the smooth muscle in the vasculature.