Cardiovascular System Part 1

Question 1

What is systole?

Answer 1

Systole is the period in which the ventricles contract.

Question 2

What is diastole?

Answer 2

Diastole is the period in which the ventricles relax and fill with blood.

Question 3

What is preload?

Answer 3

Preload is the vokume of blood in the ventricle at the end of diastole. So, this is the volume of blood the heart pumps out.

Question 4

What is afterload?

Answer 4

Afterload is the resistance the ventricle must overcome to circulate blood. So, remember the left ventricle is pumping blood out to the entire body so afterload is the pressure that must be generated to pump that blood out of the left ventricle to the body systemic circulation.

Question 5

How does the blood flow through the heart?

Answer 5

Blood flows through the heart in the following pathway:

Superior/interior vena cava
right atrium
tricuspid valve
right ventricle
pulmonary/semilunar valve
pulmonary artery
lungs for oxygenation
pulmonary vein
left atrium
mitral valve (bicuspid valve)
left ventricle
aortic valve
aorta
systemic circulation

Question 6

What are arteries?

Answer 6

High pressure system with thick vessel walls that carries oxygen rich blood to the body tissues.

Question 7

What are veins?

Answer 7

Veins are a low pressure system with thin, collapsible, distensible vessel walls that contain valves to prevent backflow of blood. Veins are a reservoir for blood and can return blood to circulation during periods of trauma to the body.

Question 8

What are capillaries?

Answer 8

Capillaries are thin microscopic vessels which contain capillary pores and are the site of nutrient, fluid, waste, and gas exchange for the body.

Question 9

Describe the purpose of collateral circulation.

Answer 9

Collateral circulation is essentially bypass vessels that will restore circulation to tissue that have a severe reduction in blood supply. These vessels will allow for the continues exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and waste so that damage from the lack of blood supply is lessened. This explains why some people who experience a stroke or heart attack may have less severe symptoms. They have more collateral circulation to supply the tissues affected by the blocked vessel.

Question 10

What are baroreceptors responsible for?

Answer 10

These are receptors that are sensitive to changes in pressure and therefore function to maintain systemic blood pressure at a relatively constant level. They do this by regulating the tone of the vessels (constriction or dilation) to control blood flow.

Question 11

Describe hyperlipidemia.

Answer 11

Hyperlipidemia is an abnormally high concentration of fats or lipids in the blood. Elevations in triglycerides or cholesterol will be seen. LDL is considered bad cholesterol and HDL is considered good cholesterol.

Question 12

What are the complications or risks associated with a patient having high cholesterol?

Answer 12

High cholesterol increases the risk for MI (heart attack), CVA (stroke), CAD (coronary artery disease), and peripheral artery disease.

Question 13

What is the normal heart rate?

Answer 13

Normal HR is 60 - 100 beats a minute.

Question 14

What symptoms would you anticipate a client with Raynaud’s disease would complain of and what symptoms would you visually see in the patient?

Answer 14

Client would describe coldness, numbness, and pain in the fingers and toes triggered by exposure to cold, stress, or smoking. The nurse would expect to see the fingers/toes turn white due to lack of blood flow from the vasospasm occurring, blue due to the resulting lack of oxygen to the tissues, and then red due to the return of circulation.

Question 15

What should the nurse teach a client with Raynaud’s disease? What is the goal of the education the nurse is completing?

Answer 15

The nurse should teach the client to keep the body warm, wear gloves, smoking cessation, and take medications as prescribed. The goal of teaching is to prevent or lessen occurrences of vasospasms and to prevent complications such as sores and gangrene.

Question 16

What is Raynaud’s Disease?

Answer 16

Raynaud’s disease is a functional disorder caused by vasospasm of arteries and arterioles in the fingers and/or toes.

Question 17

What is peripheral artery disease?

Answer 17

PAD is a circulatory condition in which narrowed blood vessels decrease blood flow. This is typically the result of plaque buildup.

Question 18

What symptoms would you as the nurse anticipate in peripheral arterial disease?

Answer 18

The patient will complain of intermittent claudication and have symptoms in the affected extremities of pale bluish discoloration of the skin, decreased hair growth, shinny skin, weak or decreased pulses, and sores that will not heal.

Question 19

What should the nurse teach a client about peripheral arterial disease?

Answer 19

The nurse should teach the client to reduce modifiable risk factors. Stop smoking, change to low cholesterol heart healthy diet, weight reduction, and exercise. Treat and regulate diabetes and high blood pressure (HTN). Check feet/legs frequently for sores. Seek treatment immediately for any sore that will not heal or appears infected.

Question 20

What is atherosclerosis?

Answer 20

Atherosclerosis is the hardening of the arteries with fatty lesions present (plaque).

Question 21

What symptoms would you anticipate in a patient with atherosclerosis?

Answer 21

A patient with atherosclerosis is typically asymptomatic until an occlusion or thrombosis occurs.

Question 22

What should the nurse anticipate teaching a client diagnosed with atherosclerosis?

Answer 22

Reduce modifiable risk factors. Stop smoking, change to low cholesterol heart healthy diet, weight reduction, and exercise. Treat and regulate diabetes and high blood pressure (HTN).

Question 23

What is the formula for cardiac output?

Answer 23

CO = SV (Stroke volume) x HR (Heart rate)

Question 24

What is an acute arterial occlusion?

Answer 24

An acute arterial occlusion is a sudden event that causes obstruction of blood flow to the affected tissue or organ.

Question 25

What symptoms would the nurse anticipate in a client with an acute arterial occlusion?

Answer 25

The nurse should anticipate that the client will complain of a sudden onset of extreme pain (pistol shot) and paresthesia. The nurse should expect the extremity to feel cold, be pulseless, have paralysis, and be pale. Often the skin changes will have a obvious line where they begin. So the nurse may see a very obvious line were the paleness, coldness, and paralysis begin compared to the unaffected (normal) tissues.

Question 26

Is an acute arterial occlusion a medical emergency? Why or why not?

Answer 26

Yes! An acute arterial occlusion is an occlusion of a artery which is a major vessel supplying oxygen rich blood to the body tissues. Lack of oxygen and nutrients will result in tissue death if not corrected quickly.

Question 27

What is an aneurysm?

Answer 27

An aneurysm is an abnormal localized dilation of a blood vessel. This will result in the vessel wall becoming weaker. Think of a balloon. Just like a balloon your blood vessel can only dilate and become so thin and weak before rupture will occur.

Question 28

What is a berry aneurysm and where would this aneurysm type be located?

Answer 28

A berry aneurysm is small circular dilations of the vessel at a bifurcation (normal splitting or forking of vessels). These have a berry appearance. Typical location is the circle of Willis (where several arteries join at the bottom side of the brain. These arteries supply oxygen to over 80% of the cerebrum).

Question 29

Most aneurysms are asymptomatic until rupture occurs. What symptom could the nurse assess for to identify an abdominal aortic aneurysm in some patients.

Answer 29

A pulsating abdominal mass may be seen in certain patients depending on the patient’s abdominal girth and the size of the aneurysm.

Question 30

What symptoms should the nurse anticipate in a dissecting abdominal aortic aneurysm?

Answer 30

-Sudden onset of pain described as a tearing or ripping sensation in abdomen
-decreasing blood pressure
-decreasing level of consciousness

Question 31

The most severe complication of an untreated ruptured aneurysm is

Answer 31

Death

Question 32

What are some risk factors for aneurysms?

Answer 32

-smoking
-HTN
-Advanced age
-trauma
-atherosclerosis
-certain congenital defects