Learn Cardiac Physiology

Cardiac physiology or heart function is the study of the healthy, unimpaired function of the heart: involving blood flow; myocardium structure; the electrical conduction system of the heart; the cardiac cycle, and cardiac output and how these interact and depend on one another.

The heart functions as a pump and acts as a double pump in the cardiovascular system to provide a continuous circulation of blood throughout the body. This circulation includes systemic circulation and pulmonary circulation. Both circuits transport blood but they can also be seen in terms of the gases they carry. Pulmonary circulation collects oxygen from the lungs and delivers carbon dioxide for exhalation. The systemic circuit transports oxygen to the body and returns relatively de-oxygenated blood and carbon dioxide to the pulmonary circuit.[1]

Blood flows through the heart in one direction, from the atria to the ventricles, and out through the pulmonary artery into the pulmonary circulation, and the aorta into the systemic circulation. The pulmonary artery (also trunk) branches into the left and right pulmonary arteries to supply each lung. Blood is prevented from flowing backward (regurgitation) by the tricuspid, bicuspid, aortic, and pulmonary valves

1)Describe the characteristics of cardiac muscle.

2)Enumerate the phases of cardiac action potential and the role of channels involved in it.

3)Enumerate the effect of serum calcium and potassium derangements on the heart muscle.

4)Define cardiac output and the method of calculating it.

5)Describe factors affecting cardiac output

6)Explain the various nervous mechanisms to maintain blood pressure (short-term regulation)

7)Explain the cardiovascular regulatory center in the medulla.

8)Give a short account of long-term regulation of blood pressure.

9)Enlist the functions of the circulatory system.

10)Describe the relationship between flow, pressure, and resistance.

11)Define blood pressure and its normal value.

12)Understand the mechanism of skeletal and respiratory pumps to increase venous return.

13) Types of shocks and their Pathophysiology