cardiovascular vocab

Blood

A fluid connective tissue made of living blood cells that float in nonliving plasma.

Plasma

Mainly water with dissolved substances, including plasma proteins.

Leukocytes

Also known as white blood cells; help the body recognize and fight foreign substances.

Thrombocytes

Platelets; cell fragments that stop bleeding when a blood vessel is damaged.

Erythrocytes

Red blood cells; carry oxygen and carbon dioxide between the lungs and body.

Hemoglobin

The protein that binds and carries oxygen.

Hematopoiesis

Blood cell formation.

Erythropoietin

Hormone that regulates and destroys red blood cells; triggered by a drop in blood oxygen levels.

Whole blood

A mixture of formed elements, water, and dissolved molecules.

Centrifuged

When the components in whole blood are separated when rapidly mixed.

Hemostasis

Fast and localized process the body uses to stop bleeding.

Antigens

Anything the body perceives as foreign that activates an immune response; glycoprotein and glycolipid markers/tags on our cells.

Antibodies

Bind to antigens and clump them to destroy.

Agglutinogens

RBC antigens.

Rh factor

Rhesus antigens on red blood cells that determine if you make anti-Rh antibodies and thus have (+) or (-) blood type.

Blood flow

Volume of blood flowing through a blood vessel, organ, or system in a given period.

Blood pressure

Force exerted on a vessel wall by the blood inside of it.

Resistance

Opposition to the flow.

Blood vessel

Structures that create a pathway that contract and relax in order to transport blood.

Arteries

Vessels that carry blood away from the heart.

Arterioles

Smaller vessels that branch off arteries and feed into capillary beds.

Capillaries

The smallest vessels with thin walls to maximize exchange of materials between blood and other fluids.

Capillary beds

Network of capillaries.

Veins

Vessels that carry blood towards the heart.

Venules

Smallest vein components that branch off capillary beds and feed into bigger veins.

Pericardium

Double-walled sac that encloses the heart.

Myocardium

Inner layer of the heart wall that contracts.

Contractile cardiac muscle cells

Responsible for pumping the heart.

Pacemaker cells

Noncontractile cells that can depolarize without neural input, allowing the heart to generate its own electrical impulses.

Intrinsic Cardiac Conduction System

Cells trigger their own action potentials.

Heartbeat

What is heard through a stethoscope; heart valves closing during the cardiac cycle.

Systole

Heart contraction.

Diastole

Heart relaxation.

Pulse

Heart rate measured by the number of times the heart beats in a minute.

Electrocardiogram

Device that tracks electrical activity in the heart.

CPR

Procedure used when the heart stops beating.

AED

Portable electric shock giver during cardiac arrest.

Tourniquet

Technique to compress blood from bleeding out.

Atria

Thin-walled receivers of blood.

Ventricle

Thick-walled sender of blood.

Valves

Structures in each chamber that keep blood flowing in one direction.

Atrioventricular valve

Located at the atrial-ventricular junction; prevents backflow from ventricles into atria.

Semilunar valve

Located at the base of ventricular arteries; prevents backflow into the ventricle.

Pulmonary valve

Guards the base of the pulmonary trunk.

Mitral/Bicuspid valve

Two cusps; located between the left ventricle and atrium.

Aortic valve

Guards the base of the aorta.

Tricuspid valve

Located between the right atrium and ventricle.