Regulation of Stroke Volume and Heart Rate Flashcards
What is heart rate regulated by?
Autonomic nervous system
What are the 2 components of the autonomic nervous system?
Sympathetic
Parasympathetic
What does the sympathetic nervous system release?
Noradrenaline
Circulating adrenaline from adrenal medulla
What does noradrenaline and circulating adrenaline act on?
B1 receptors on sinoatrial node
What impact does the sympathetic nervous system have on the SA node?
Increase slope of the pacemaker potential
Increases heart rate (tachycardia)
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What is tachycardia?
Increased heart rate
What is increased heart rate called?
Tachycardia
What does the parasympathetic system release?
Acetylcholine
What nerve from the parasympathetic system acts on the heart?
Vagus
What does the parasympathetic system act on?
Muscurinic receptors on sinoatrial node
What effect does the parasympathetic system have on the sinoatrial node?
Hyperpolarises cells and decreases slope of pacemaker potential
Decreases heart rate (bradycardia)
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What is bradycardia?
Decreased heart rate
What is decreased heart rate called?
Bradycardia
What is regulation of stroke volume done by?
Preload
Afterload
Neural
Pathological
What does Starling’s Law state?
The energy contraction is proportional to the initial length of the cardiac muscle fibre
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How does tension of cardic muscle fibres change with length (preload)?
Tension increases until it reaches a maximum then it decreases as the length increases
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What is the relationship between tension and length (preload) due to?
Overlap of myosin in the muscle, impacting the amount of cross bridges that can be made
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What is the curve of tension against length (preload) essentially the same as?
End diastolic volume against stroke volume
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What impact does increases venous return have on EDV and stroke volume?
Increases EDV and so increases stroke volume
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What effect does decreasing venous return have on EDV and stroke volume?
Decreases EDV and so decreases stroke volume
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What does the relationship between EDV and stroke volume ensure?
Self regulation so the stroke volume of the left and right ventricles are the same
What is afterload?
The load against which a muscle tries to contract
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What is the aortic pressure impacted by?
Total peripheral resistance (TPR)
What happens to aortic pressure if total peripheral resistance increases?
Aortic pressure increases
What happens to stroke volume if total peripheral resistance increases?
Ventricles need to work harder to push open the AV vale and so it will have less energy left to eject blood, so stroke volume will decrease
What is afterload set by?
Arterial pressure against which blood is expelled, which in turn depends on the total peripheral resistance
What affects preload?
Venules/veins
Capacitance vessels
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What affects afterload?
Arterioles
Resistance vessels
What does the sympathetic system act on to impact stroke volume?
B1 receptors on the myocytes
What does the sympathetic system acting on B1 receptors of myocytes cause?
Increases contractibility (inotropic effect)
Gives stronger, but shorter contractions
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What impact does the parasympathetic system have on stroke volume?
Little effect
Due to vagus nerve not innervating the ventricular muscle
What is preload?
How full the ventricle is before it starts contracting (EDV)
What is afterload?
How difficult it is for the heart to pump out the blood (the TPR)
What does TPR stand up for?
Total peripheral resistance
What are examples of pathological impacts on stroke volume?
Hypercalcemia
Hypocalcemia
Ischaemia
Barbiturates
How does hypercalcemia impact the stroke volume/EDV curve?
Shifts it up and left
How does hypocalcemia impact the stroke volume/EDV curve?
Shifts it down and right
How does ischaemia impact the stroke volume/EDV curve?
Shifts it down and right
How does barbiturates impact the stroke volume/EDV curve?
Shifts it down and right
What is ischaemia?
Restriction in blood supply to tissues
What is restriction in blood supply to tissues called?
Ischaemia
What are barbiturates?
Drug that acts on the CNS as a depressant
How does the heart compensate for a reduced pumping ability?
By working around a bigger EDV, resulting in a lower ejection fractiona and reduced exercise capacity
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What does the heart working around a larger EDV result in?
Lower ejection fraction
Reduced exercise capacity
What formula describes cardiac output?
Cardiac output = heart rate x stroke volume
How does increasing heart rate with an electronic pacemaker impact cardiac output and stroke volume?
Small increase in cardiac output
But stroke volume decreases (because shortened cardiac interval cus into the rapid filling phase, reduced EDV reduces preload, in turn reduces stroke volume)
Why does increasing heart rate with an electronic pacemaker cause a decrease in stroke volume?
Shortened cardiac interval cuts into rapid filling phase
Reduces EDV which reduces preloa
This reduces stroke volume by Starling’s law
What are some things that accompany physiological increases in heart rate to offset the effect of decreased stroke volume?
Heart rate increases (decreased vagal tone and increases sympathetic tone)
Contractility increases (increases sympathetic tone, shortens systole)
Venous return increases (via vasoconstriction, maintains preload)
Total peripheral resistance falls (via arteriolar dilation in muscle, skin and heart reducing afterload)
Cardiac output increases 4-6 times