Cardiovascular System Notes

These flashcards cover key concepts from the cardiovascular system lecture notes, focusing on the cardiac cycle, conduction, adaptations, and factors affecting heart rate and blood pressure.

Contraction of the heart is called __.

systole

Relaxation of the heart is called __.

diastole

Diastolic arterial pressure is called __.

AFTERLOAD

PRELOAD is related to __ of the cardiac myocytes prior to contraction.

ventricular filling

The heart's natural pacemaker is the __.

SA node

The __ node is responsible for propagating electric signals after the SA node.

AV

Ventricular fibrillation, or V-fib, is considered the most serious __ rhythm disturbance.

cardiac

Sympathetic innervation increases heart rate through __.

norepinephrine

A common adaptation to regular aerobic exercise is __ of the heart muscle.

hypertrophy

Atherosclerosis is triggered by damage to the arterial wall due to __.

inflammation

Cardiac output increases __ during exercise.

5x

The Valsalva maneuver can temporarily raise blood pressure during __ exercise.

resistance