Module 5: Cardiovascular terms

Question 1

What is arteriosclerosis?

Answer 1

Is a general term for all types of arterial changes. –sclerosis means hardening.
Elasticity of the arterial walls is lost, and the walls become thick and hard.

Question 2

Define Atherosclerosis

Answer 2

arterial changes defined by the presence of atheromas. Atheromas are plaques that form on arterial walls consisting of lipids, cells, fibrin and cell debris.

Question 3

Define angina

Answer 3

cardiac chest pain associated with temporary oxygen deficit to heart muscle cells.
There is no permanent damage or areas of necrosis with angina.
May be caused by an obstruction of the coronary arteries or arterial vasospasm temporarily reducing blood flow.

Question 4

MI - Myocardial infarction

Answer 4

Occurs when a coronary artery is obstructed and blood flow is cut off to cardiac muscle.
This results in permanent damage with an area of necrosis in the heart wall. Also known as a heart attack.

Question 5

Arrhythmia

Answer 5

Abnormal heart rhythm.
May result from damage to the heart’s conduction system or from systemic causes such as an electrolyte imbalance.
Arrythmias cause a decrease in efficiency of the cardiac cycle.

Question 6

Ventricular tachycardia

Answer 6

interruption in the cardiac cycle where the ventricles are pumping in an organized fashion but are pumping so fast that there is no time for the ventricles to fill.
This leads to the heart not perfusing the body.

Question 7

Ventricular fibrillation

Answer 7

The ventricular muscle fibres are contracting rapidly and independently of each other, there is no coordination. The ventricles are just quivering.
This leads to negligible cardiac output.
This type of arrhythmia is shockable, hence the name “defibrillation”.

Question 8

Atrial fibrillation

Answer 8

The muscle fibres of the atria are conducting random impulses and are contracting in a disorganized fashion independently of one another. This results in the atria “quivering”.
This leads to an irregular ventricular response since only random impulses get through to signal to the ventricles to contract.
Blood pools in the atria, leading to high risk of thrombus formation.

Question 9

Congestive heart failure

Answer 9

Damage to the heart muscle leads to a decrease in cardiac output. This causes BP to drop and blood to back up waiting to get into the heart to be pumped out. The drop in BP stimulates the sympathetic nervous system to increase peripheral resistance. This makes it so the heart has to work even harder to pump against this increased resistance, leading to a further decrease in cardiac output.

Question 10

Peripheral vascular disease

Answer 10

Refers to any abnormality of the arteries or veins outside of the heart.
Most commonly caused by atheromas.
This decreased blood supply in the peripheral circulation leads to necrosis, ulcers, gangrene and often amputation of a limb.

Question 11

Hypertension

Answer 11

High BP.
Develops when BP is consistently 140/90 (many readings at many different times are needed).
- vasoconstriction in the arteries. leads to decreased blood flow to tissues. When there is decreased blood flow to the kidneys, the kidneys respond by releasing renin and angiotension and stimulating release of aldosterone. The result of this is a further increase in blood pressure, compounding the problem.

Question 12

AAA (Abominable aortic aneurism)

Answer 12

An aneurysm is a localized dilatation and weakening of an arterial wall. Over time, this weakened area enlarges. The abdominal aorta is a very high pressure blood vessel. When this weakened area is exposed to high pressures, it is prone to rupture. Rupture of a AAA quickly leads to hemorrhagic shock and death.

Question 13

Shock is

Answer 13

Decreased circulating blood volume leading to decreased perfusion and tissue hypoxia(deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues)

Question 14

Hypovolemic (Type of shock)

Answer 14

Results from decreased blood or plasma volume.
There is not enough volume in the circulatory system to perfuse the organs. No matter how much vasoconstriction occurs, there is still not enough volume to create adequate pressures to maintain perfusion.

Question 15

Cardiogenic (type of shock)

Answer 15

The heart’s pumping capability is decreased.

It cannot pump enough blood in the circulation to maintain perfusion.

Question 16

Neurogenic (type of shock)

Answer 16

Neurological abnormalities cause systemic vasodilation and loss of the sympathetic response. This results in blood pressure being too low to perfuse tissues with normal blood volume.

Question 17

Septic (type of shock)

Answer 17

Vasodilation occurs due to systemic massive inflammatory response due to infection.
This response can be caused by tissue destruction or the release of endotoxins from pathogenic organisms.
Blood pressure cannot be maintained at a high enough level to perfuse the organs.

Question 18

Anaphylactic (type of shock)

Answer 18

A systemic immune response causing massive release of histamine into general circulation.
This histamine release leads to systemic vasodilation and increased capillary permeability. Volume moves out of the intravascular space into the interstitial space. There is insufficient volume AND insufficient pressure to maintain tissue perfusion.