Abdominal Pelvic Organs and Cardiovascular System Review

Flashcards covering cat abdominal anatomy, heart structures, cardiovascular circuits, and EKG components based on the lecture transcript.

Mesentery proper

The structure that is anchoring and holding down the small intestines in a cat.

Duodenum

The first segment of the small intestines; it is about $8$, $10$, or $12$ inches long in humans but only about $2$ inches long in a cat.

Jejunum

The middle segment of the small intestines.

Ileum

The final segment of the small intestines that leads into the colon or cecum.

Mesocolon

The specific mesentery that is attached to the large intestines or colon.

Gallbladder

An organ described as looking like a "deflated balloon" located between the two right lobes of the cat liver.

Spleen

An organ always located in the left lateral side of the cat, referred to as the lateral gutter.

Pancreas

A structure located underneath the stomach that may appear crumbled or dried up in older preserved specimens.

Greater omentum

The fatty structure in the abdominal cavity that can vary vastly in thickness from one cat to another.

Artery

By definition, any blood vessel carrying blood away from the heart.

Vein

By definition, any vessel carrying blood back towards the heart.

Apex

The point of the heart cone which points inferiorly and laterally; it is comprised mostly of the left ventricle.

Hemoglobin Oxygen Capacity

Each hemoglobin molecule can hold up to $4$ oxygen molecules.

Pulmonary arteries

The only arteries in the body that carry blood that is not fully oxygenated (colored blue in models).

Pulmonary veins

The only veins in the body that carry blood that is fully oxygenated (colored red in models).

Left ventricle

The chamber of the heart with the thickest wall, responsible for pumping blood through the systemic circuit via the aorta.

Tricuspid valve

The AV valve located on the right side of the heart between the right atrium and right ventricle.

Bicuspid (Mitral) valve

The AV valve located on the left side of the heart between the left atrium and left ventricle.

Epicardium

The thin and delicate inner layer of the heart's sac, also known as the visceral pericardium.

Parietal pericardium

The extremely tough outer layer of the heart sac that is "tougher than leather."

Cardiac tamponade

A condition where bleeding into the parietal pericardium causes pressure on the heart, preventing efficient pumping.

Coronary sulcus

The groove that forms a circle around the heart, acting as the boundary between the atria and the ventricles.

Anterior interventricular branch

A branch of the left coronary artery located in the anterior interventricular sulcus; also known by the slang name LAD (left anterior descending).

Coronary sinus

A structure on the posterior side of the heart inside the coronary sulcus that receives blood from coronary veins and empties into the right atrium.

Chordae tendineae

String-like structures that attach papillary muscles to the leaves or flaps of the AV valves to prevent prolapse.

Brachiocephalic artery

The first major branch off the aortic arch which divides into the right common carotid and the right subclavian artery.

Tunica interna

The innermost layer of a blood vessel, composed of a single cell layer of simple squamous epithelium.

Sinoatrial (SA) node

A specialized clump of myocardial cells in the right atrium that acts as the heart's pacemaker by automatically depolarizing.

P wave

The wave on an EKG that represents atrial depolarization.

QRS complex

The spike on an EKG that represents the depolarization of the ventricles.

T wave

The wave on an EKG that represents the repolarization of the ventricles.

EKG Paper Speed

On a standard EKG tracing, $5$ boxes represent $1$ second of time.