Cardiovascular System

Briefly distinguish between arteries, veins, and capillaries based on their functions

Arteries - Carry blood AWAY from the heart

Veins - Carry blood TOWARDS the heart

Capillaries - Connects arteries and veins; site of nutrient exchange

When you hear lub dub, what are you actually hearing during each sound?

The snapping shut of the hearts valves

Explain the causes and appearances of varicose veins, including hemorrhoids

Both develop when weakened or damaged one way vein valves allow blood to pool and increase pressure inside the blood vessels

Varicose veins; typically found on legs, twisted cords sitting beneath skin surface

Hemorrhoids; located inside lower rectum or outside anal opening, small swollen, inflamed blood vessels

Distinguish between the shapes and the cusps of the AV Alves and the SL valves

AV valve cusps are triangular, pointed, flaplike cusps

SL valve cusps are cup or pocket shaped cusps with a half moon outline

Explain how pulmonary veins and arteries differ from the other arteries and veins in the body

Pulmonary arteries carry oxygen poor blood from the heart to the lungs; most arteries carry O2 rich blood

Pulmonary veins carry oxygen rich blood from the lungs to the heart; most veins carry O2 poor blood

What’s systole and diastole?

Systole = state of contraction

Diastole = state of relaxation

The cardiac cycle is the sequence of alternating contraction (systole) and relaxation (diastole) of the heart's atria and ventricles

Describe the process of the heart beating, including naming the pacemaker of the heart, explaining how it coordinates the heart beat, and explaining why the AV nose send its impulse down the inter ventricular septum rather than right to the ventricles

1. The SA node starts the electrical impulse, causing the atria to contract.

2. The AV node briefly delays the impulse to allow the ventricles to finish filling with blood.

3. The impulse travels down the interventricular septum through the Bundle of His and bundle branches.

4. The Purkinje fibers spread the impulse, causing the ventricles to contract from the apex upward.

5. This pushes blood efficiently through the pulmonary and aortic semilunar valves.

When you hear Lub-dup, what are you actually hearing during each sound?

Lub - The mitral and tricuspid valves shut

Dup - The aortic and pulmonary valves shutting

Defne ventricular fibrillation and explain why you cannot defibrillate a patient in asystole (flatline)

Ventricular fibrillation is when the ventricles receive a chaotic signal causing them to quiver instead of contracting normally. A defibrillator delivers a shock to stop that activity, allowing the heart's natural pacemaker (SA node) a chance to restore a normal rhythm.

Asystole - The heart has no detectable electrical activity. A defibrillator cannot restart the heart because there is no abnormal electrical rhythm to reset.