S2: Haemodyamics I: Arteries Flashcards
What is Haemodynamics?
Relationship between blood flow, blood pressure and resistance to flow
What are the key factors in haemodynamics?
Force: Cardiac contraction
Work: Isovolumetric contraction/ejection
Pressure: Difference aorta to veins
Compliance: Arterial Stretch (increase volume under pressure)
Resistance: Arterioles (enables us to direct blood flow to one place and the other)
Flow: The vital parameter
Velocity: Slowing down blood flow in capillaries (good exchange of solutes and fluid)
What system is the CVS?
The CVS is a closed system and what happens in one part of CVS has a major impact on other parts.
Reduced blood flow to one area: Increases pressure above and alters flow to other areas
What is the role of blood in the venous system?
It is also known as the low pressure reservoir system.
The venous system vessels expand to hold blood and then recoil to push blood back into the heart.
The reservoir of venous blood can be used to increase cardiac output - Starlings law (what goes in goes out).
What is Darcy’s Law?
It shows the role of pressure in energy flow
Flow = Pa - CVP / TPR
(Pa-CVP) = Pressure difference
- CVP is usually very low so it is normally excluded from the equation.
How does dilation affect blood flow?
Dilation decreases TPR which increases blood flow
What is Bernoulli’s Law?
It is the role of pressure, kinetic and potential energies in flow
Flow = Pressure (PV) + Kinetic (pV2/2) + Potential (pgh)
Kinetic: Momentum of blood
Potential: Effect of gravity
p: Fluid Mass
Define blood flow
Volume of blood flowing in a given time (ml/min)
Define perfusion
Blood flow per given mass of tissue (ml/min/g)
Define velocity of blood flow
Blood flow divided by the cross sectional area through which the blood flows (cm/s).
What is the equation of velocity?
Velocity = Volume flow/ Area
Volume flow = Velocity x Area
Describe blood flow with velocity and cross sectional area
The bigger the cross sectional area, the same blood flow is going to produce a smaller velocity
- Velocity of blood flow in aorta is high
- Branching of arteries slows velocity
- Greater the cross sectional area= slower blood flow
- Velocity is slowest on the capillaries
- Velocity increases with veins coming together helping return of blood to the heart (as velocity increases= kinetic energy increases=momentum)
What are the 3 patterns of blood flow?
- Laminar
- Turbulent
- Bolus
Describe Laminar blood flow
In most arteries, arterioles, venules and veins
- Concentric shells
- Zero velocity at walls (molecular interactions between blood and wall cause friction) and maximum velocity as the centre which moves RBC towards the centre
- Viscosity of blood determines how much friction there is between concentric shells
- Speeds up blood flow through narrow vessels as RBC are in centre with maximum velocity
Describe turbulent blood flow
Ventricles (mixing), aorta (peak flow), atheroma (bruit)
- Turbulent blood flow causes heart murmurs
- Breaks down laminar blood flow –> velocity increases, viscosity decreases
- Blood does not flow linearly and smoothly in adjacent layers (whirlpools, eddies, vortices)
- Due to changes in velocity