CVS Flashcards
What is afterload? And what is it roughly equivalent to?
The pressure in the wall of the left ventricle during ejection. Ie the load the heart must eject blood against.
Roughly equivalent to aortic pressure
What is preload?
The amount of stretch on the ventricles during diastole
What is preload related to?
End diastolic volume
What is total peripheral resistance?
The resistance to blood flow offered by all systemic vasculature
What happens to pressure as it reaches resistance?
The pressure drops
Constricting arterioles decrease pressure where and increase pressure where?
Decrease pressure in the venous side while increasing pressure on the arteriole side
What happens to pressures during vasodilation? (Peripheral resistance decreased)
Reduction in the arteriole side, increase in the venous side
What happens to the pressures if you increase peripheral resistance EG vasoconstriction
An increase in arteriole pressure and a decrease in venous pressure
If you increase cardiac output (SVxHR) but keep peripheral resistance the same what will happen to arteriole and venous pressures?
Increase in arteriole
Decrease in venous
If you keep the total peripheral resistance the same but decrease the cardiac output (SVxHR) what will happen to the venous and arteriole pressures?
venous pressure will increase and arteriole pressure decrease.
If a tissue needs more blood, what needs to happen?
Dilation of precapillary sphincters
If precapillary sphincters dilate what will happen to total resistance?
What does the heart need to do in response?
Reduction in total peripheral resistance
Heart needs to increase cardiac output to maintain BP.
How does the heart detect the fall in blood pressure due to something like dilation of a pre-capillary sphincter?
Baroreflex
What is cardiac output?
The amount of blood ejected in 1 minute. Stroke volume (end systolic volume-end diastolic volume) x HR
In ventricular filling, when should the ventricles stop filling ?
When they reach the pressure of the veins
What does the ventricular compliance curve describe?
With increased venous pressure, increased heart filling occurs.
The ventricular compliance curve can be increased and decreased in disease state. That can be problematic due to the association of this curve with what law?
Starlings law of the heart
What does starlings law of the heart state?
The more the heart is stretched (within reason) the greater the force of contraction
Starlings law of the heart is linked to what curve associated with the cardiac myocytes
Length tension curve of sarcomeres
In theory why does increased stretch increase contraction?
More exposed binding sites for the actin-myosin power stroke.
On top of the intrinsic control from stretch what other extrinsic factors can alter contractility?
Adrenaline and sympathetic stimulation
When aortic pressure increases as a result of an increase in total peripheral resistance what happens to heart filling?
Venous pressure reduces, thus a decrease in filling of the heart.
When we exercise total peripheral resistance falls. Explain why? And what happens next (dismissing sympathetic stimulation)
Heart and muscles require more oxygen therefore vasodilation.
A decrease in total peripheral resistance increases venous pressure.
More blood pushed back to heart and increased filling
Increased filling, increased stretch, increased cardiac output
Blood entering the right atria is from where?
Superior and inferior vena cava and coronary sinus