Heart Structure & Circulation

Question 1

What are the two major circulatory pathways?

Answer 1

1. Pulmonary - blood moving between the heart and lungs
2. Systemic - Blood moving from the heart to the rest of the body

Question 2

What does “Blood Vessels” refer to?

Answer 2

Anything that acts as a “roadway” for the heart

Question 3

What is the plural version of atrium?

Answer 3

Atria

Question 4

What are the sounds a heart makes from?

Answer 4

Heart valves closing

Question 5

What do arteries do?

Answer 5

Carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to the rest of the body

Question 6

What do arteries do?

Answer 6

Carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart

Question 7

What do veins do?

Answer 7

Carry oxygen poor blood from the body, to the heart

Question 8

What are capillaries?

Answer 8

very tiny vessels that join arteries to veins; location of gas, waste, hormone and nutrient exchange.

Question 9

What is the Sinoatrial (SA) Node? What does it do?

Answer 9

Bundle of specialized muscle cells that electrically stimulate the atria to relax and contract (a.k.a. pacemaker)

Question 10

What is the Atrioventricular (AV) Node? What does it do?

Answer 10

Receives the electrical signal from SA Node and transmits through specialized fibres that run down the length of the interventricular septum (called bundle of His and Purkinje fibres), causing ventricular contraction

Question 11

What is blood pressure?

Answer 11

The pressure at which blood is being pumped through vessels. Changes in pressure correspond with phases of the heart beat

Question 12

What is systolic pressure?

Answer 12

The maximum pressure during ventricular contraction

Question 13

What is diastolic pressure?

Answer 13

The minimum pressure before ventricles contract again

Question 14

What is the normal resting blood pressure?

Answer 14

120/80 (120 over 80)

Question 15

What is stroke volume?

Answer 15

The amount of blood forced out of heart with each beat (usually measured in mL)

Question 16

What does cardiac output measure? What does it indicate?

Answer 16

It measures heart rate and stroke volume (HR x SV) and indicates how much oxygen is being delivered to body (usually measured in mL/min)

Question 17

What is arteriosclerosis?

Answer 17

When fatty substances (ex. cholesterol) enters and thickens the artery walls, which then hardens and turns into plaque, causing narrowing of the arteries and a loss of elasticity

Question 18

What are the treatments for arteriosclerosis?

Answer 18

Angioplasty: opens blocked arteries with the insertion of a balloon pump, which is inflated and leaves behind a stent to avoid future narrowing

Triple Coronary Bypass: creates three new pathways for blood to travel through due to blockages in the existing vessels