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CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
The main components of the human cardiovascular system are the heart and the blood vessels It includes: the pulmonary circulation, a "loop" through the lungs where blood is oxygenated; and the systemic circulation, a "loop" through the rest of the body to provide oxygenated blood. An average adult contains five to six quarts (roughly 4.7 to 5.7 liters) of blood, which consists of plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

Pulmonary circulation
In the pulmonary circulation, deoxygenated blood leaves the right section of the heart through the pulmonary artery, enters the lungs and oxygenated blood comes through the pulmonary veins. The blood then flows into the left atrium of the heart and then into the left ventricle and from left ventricle the blood is pumped through the semilunar valve into the aorta

Pulmonary circuit

Systematic circulation
Systemic circulation is the portion of the cardiovascular system which carries oxygenated blood away from the heart, to the body, and returns deoxygenated blood back to the heart. The circulatory system that supplies oxygen and nutrients to the cells of the body is called the systematic circulation The systematic circulation is a high resistance circuit with a large pressure gradient between arteries and veins

Systematic circuit

Operation of circulatory system


Blood enters the heart on the right side through two main veins

Superior vena cava Inferior vena cava

The incoming blood fills the storage chamber, the right atrium
When right atrium is full, it contracts and forces blood through the tricuspid valve into right ventricle and then into pulmonary circulation system

After red blood cells recharge with oxygen and leaving out carbon dioxide the blood enters into left atrium and then into left ventricle The purified blood from left ventricle is passed into aorta through aortic valve The action of pumping blood into pulmonary artery from right ventricle and into aorta from left ventricle takes place synchronously

HEART

Heart is located between your lungs in the middle of your chest.

A double-layered membrane called the pericardium surrounds the heart like a sac. Heart has 4 chambers. The upper chambers are called the left and right atria, and the lower chambers are called the left and right ventricles.

A wall of muscle called the septum separates the left and right atria and the left and right ventricles. The left ventricle is the largest and strongest chamber in your heart.

The Heart Valves : Four types of valves regulate blood flow through your heart: The tricuspid valve regulates blood flow between the right atrium and right ventricle. The pulmonary valve controls blood flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary arteries, which carry blood to your lungs to pick up oxygen. The mitral valve lets oxygen-rich blood from your lungs pass from the left atrium into the left ventricle. The aortic valve opens the way for oxygen-rich blood to pass from the left ventricle into the aorta, your body's largest artery, where it is delivered to the rest of your body

The Conduction System Electrical impulses from heart muscle (the myocardium) cause your heart to beat (contract). This electrical signal begins in the sinoatrial (SA) node, located at the top of the right atrium. The SA node is sometimes called the heart's "natural pacemaker. " When an electrical impulse is released from this natural pacemaker, it causes the atria to contract. The signal then passes through the atrioventricular (AV) node. The AV node checks the signal and sends it through the muscle fibers of the ventricles, causing them to contract. The SA node sends electrical impulses at a certain rate, but heart rate may still change depending on physical demands, stress, or hormonal factors

CONDUCTION SYSTEM

C O N D U C T I O N S Y S T E M

CORONARY ARTERIES Coronary Circulation The heart muscle, like every other organ or tissue in our body, needs oxygen-rich blood to survive. Blood is supplied to the heart by its own vascular system, called coronary circulation.

The aorta (the main blood supplier to the body) branches off into two main coronary blood vessels (also called arteries).

These coronary arteries branch off into smaller arteries, which supply oxygen-rich blood to the entire heart muscle

CORONARY ARTERY

BLOOD PRESSURE
Blood pressure (BP) is a force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels During each heartbeat, BP varies between a maximum (systolic) and a minimum (diastolic) pressure A person's BP is usually expressed in terms of the systolic Pressure and diastolic pressure, for example 120/80

Systolic pressure is peak pressure in the arteries, which occurs near the end of the cardiac cycle when the ventricles are contracting.

Diastolic pressure is minimum pressure in the arteries, which occurs near the beginning of the cardiac cycle when the ventricles are filled with blood. Systolic and diastolic arterial BPs are not static but undergo natural variations from one heartbeat to another and throughout the day
Hypertension refers to arterial pressure being abnormally high, as opposed to hypotension, when it is abnormally low.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BLOOD FLOW


The blood flow at any point in the circulatory system is the volume of blood that passes that point during a unit of time Blood flow is highest in the pulmonary artery and the aorta, where these blood vessels leave the heart. The flow at these points, called the cardiac output, is between 3.5 and 5 litres/min in an normal adult at rest From the cardiac output or the blood flow in a given vessel, a number of other characteristics can be calculated

Those characteristics are: Stroke volume: The cardiac output divided by number of heartbeats per minute gives the amount of blood that is ejected during each heart beat Mean circulation time: If the total amount of blood in circulation is known ,and this volume is divided by the cardiac output mean circulation time is obtained Mean velocity: From the blood flow through a vessel, divided by cross sectional area of the vessel, the mean velocity of the blood at the point of measurement can be obtained

Laminar flow in a blood vessel:


The velocity of blood flowing through a vessel is not constant throughout the cross section of the vessel but is a function of the distance from the wall surfaces

From the fig we can observe that velocity is zero at the walls of the vessel and is highest at the center of the vessel

BLOOD FLOW

AREA

Mean velocity

Effects of inadequate blood supply:


Cerebrovascular accident occurs due to blood clot in blood vessel of the brain

Myocardial infact or heart attack occurs due to the obstruction of part of the coronary arteries that supply blood for the heart muscle
Embolism bloodclot in a vessel in the lung

Heart sounds
The principal cause of heart sound is due to vibration set up in the blood inside the heart by the sudden closure of the valves In healthy adults, there are two normal heart sounds often described as a lub and a dub (or dup), that occur in sequence with each heart beat. These are the first heart sound (S1) and second heart sound (S2), produced by the closing of the AV valves and semilunar valves respectively.

In addition to these normal sounds, a variety of other sounds may be present including heart murmurs, adventitious sounds, and gallop rhythms S3 and S4.

Heart murmurs are generated by turbulent flow of blood, which may occur inside or outside the heart. Abnormal murmurs can be caused by stenosis restricting the opening of a heart valve, resulting in turbulence as blood flows through it. Abnormal murmurs may also occur with valvular insufficiency (or regurgitation), which allows backflow of blood when the incompetent valve closes with only partial effectiveness.

ECG (electrocardiogram)
It is a graphic recording or display of the time variant voltages produced by the myocardium during the cardiac cycle Electrocardiogram is used in diagnosing various diseases and conditions associated with the heart

Schematic fig of ECG graph

BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS


It can be done by: Indirect measurements using sphygmanometer and a stethoscope. Auscultatory method Direct measurements consisting of Percutaneous insertion, catheterization, implantation of a transducer in a vessel or in the heart

Instruments used for measuring BP

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