The Cardiovascular System Flashcards
What is the heart?
The heart is a hollow muscle that pumps blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. It is found in all animals with a circulatory system, which includes the vertebrates.
What is the pericardium?
The pericardium is a double-walled sac containing the heart and the roots of the great vessels.
What is the heart composed of?
The vertebrate heart is principally composed of cardiac muscle and connective tissue. Cardiac muscle is an involuntary striated muscle tissue specific to the heart and is responsible for the ability of the heart to pump blood.
What is the superior vena cava?
The superior vena cava is a large diameter, yet short, vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the upper half of the body to the heart’s right atrium.
What is the inferior vena cava?
The inferior vena cava, also known as the posterior vena cava, is the large vein that carries de-oxygenated blood from the lower half of the body into the right atrium of the heart.
What is the right atrium?
The right atrium is one of four chambers (two atria and two ventricles) in the hearts of mammals (including humans) and archosaurs (which include birds and crocodilians).
What is the right ventricle?
The right ventricle is one of four chambers in the human heart. It receives deoxygenated blood from the right atrium via the tricuspid valve, and pumps it into the pulmonary artery via the pulmonary valve and pulmonary trunk.
What is the left atrium?
The left atrium is one of four chambers in the human heart. It receives oxygenated blood from the pulmonary veins, and pumps it into the left ventricle, via the mitral valve.
What is the left ventricle?
The left ventricle is one of four chambers (two atria and two ventricles) in the human heart. It receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium via the mitral valve, and pumps it into the aorta via the aortic valve.
What is the aortic valve?
The aortic valve is one of the four valves of the heart. It normally has three leaflets, although in 1% of the population it is found to congenitally have two leaflets. It lies between the left ventricle and the aorta.
What is the aorta?
The aorta is the largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it bifurcates into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries).
What are the pulmonary arteries?
In the human heart, the pulmonary trunk (pulmonary artery or main pulmonary artery) begins at the base of the right ventricle. It is short and wide—approximately 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in length and 3 centimetres (1.2 in) in diameter. It then branches into two pulmonary arteries (left and right), which deliver de-oxygenated blood to the corresponding lung.
What are the pulmonary veins?
The pulmonary veins are large blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium of the heart. In humans there are four pulmonary veins, two from each lung. They carry oxygenated blood, which is unusual since almost all other veins carry deoxygenated blood.
What are veins?
Veins are blood vessels that carry blood toward the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart.
