KNES 313

Ch. 5
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EXAM #2 REVIEW

Cardiovascular System:
structure and flow of blood
Pulmonary circulation- delivers blood from heart to lungs and back to heart
Peripheral circulation- delivers blood from heart to body and back to heart
o Blood enters right atrium from vena cavas
o Passes through valve into right ventricle
o Is pumped through valve into pulmonary artery
o Is oxygenated and returned to left atrium via pulmonary veins
o Passes through valve into left ventricle
o Is pumped through valve into aorta and out to body

Function
cardiac cycle
o systole- contraction phase- blood is pumped out of chamber
o diastole- relaxation phase; blood fills chamber
intrinsic control
o electrical impulse spreads throughout heart tissue causing contraction
of atria and ventricles; timing of impulse important for coordination of
heart beat; delay btw atrial/ventricular contractions allow ventricles to
fill with blood
o impulse initiates in the SA node (natural pacemaker)
o spreads through atria to AV node (delays impulse by 1/10 sec allowing
atria to contract before ventricles
o impulse sent through AV bundle
o Purkinje fibers- rapidly spreads impulse out from AV node to contract
throughout ventricles
o extrinsic control
parasympathetic
release Ach at SA & AV nodes (decreases activity of
nodes- decreases heart rate (bradycardia)
withdrawal responsible for initial increase in heart rate
during exercise (from rest to 100bpm
sympathetic
releases NE- increases activity of nodes- increases heart
rate (tachycardia)
epinephrine releases from adrenal gland- increases heart
rate )responsible for increasing heart rate greater than
100 bpm
o cardiac muscle & wall thickness
o capable of contraction and force generation; and initiating impulse
(autorhythmaticity); fibers have high mitochondrial density, extensive
capillary network; uses aerobic energy for contraction

KNES 313

EXAM #2 REVIEW

Wall thickness- the thicker the wall of cardiac chamber, the greater the
force
o Left ventricle is thicker b/c supplies whole body (greater resistance)
o Regular physical training and hypertension- thickening of L ventricle
wall and increase in L ventricular mass
o Pressure overload- resistance training (increased wall thickness)
o Volume overload- endurance training (increase wall length)
o cardiac output- HR x SV; amount of blood pumped per minute; typically
5L
factors effecting stroke volume
o Cardiac filling (ventricular)- more blood filling the ventricle= more
blood ejected- preload- stretch on the muscle of the ventricle after
filling
Venous return- blood return from veins; factors- pooling of blood
in veins and muscle pump
o Resistance of blood flow (afterload)
o Force of ventricular contraction (contractility)
Frank-Starling mechanism- filling of heart stretches ventricular chamber; the
force of ventricular contraction is proportional to this stretch; therefore,
increased filling= increased force of contraction or more blood filling
the ventricle will result in a more forceful contraction, resulting in a greater
SV
EDV- blood in ventricles at end of diastole
ESV- blood in ventricles at end of systole
Ef= EDV/ESV ratio of available blood to pumped blood
training effect on SV (dont worry about contractility)
training increases blood volume. More blood= higher venous return=
increased cardiac filling= increases force of contraction= leads to higher SV;
because increased SV= decreased HR
training also increases ventricular chamber size (diameter and wall thickness)
blood
o hematocrit-55% (90% water)
o plasma- 45%; 99% RBCs
o hemoconcentration
blood pressure (depends on the CO and resistance to that flow & total
peripheral pressure- resistance to arterial blood flow
o hypertension
o mean arterial pressure- represents average BP during systole and
diastole
= (2DP + SP)/3
changes to CV during exercise
o change in BP
o oxygen delivery to tissue depends on two factors
a-vO2diff- difference between amount of O2 per 100 mL of
arterial blood entering a tissue and amount of O2 in 100mL
blood leaving tissue
o

KNES 313

EXAM #2 REVIEW

increases during exercise (more O2 taken out of blood by

metabolically active tissue; at rest- 8mL per 100mL;
during exercise- 15mL per 100mL of blood

CO
Ficke Equation- Q (CO) x avO2diff; increasing either leads to
increase in VO2 for whole body

flow distribution
at rest: 15-20% of CO goes to skeletal muscle
during maximal exercise: 80-85 goes to skeletal muscle
factors: vasodilation- increase in radius of vessels
o vasoconstriction- decrease in radius
o precapillary sphincters- muscular rings at entrance
of capillary bed
venous return
venoconstriction- via sympathetic stimulation- only effective in
non-skel tissues
muscle pump- rhythmic muscle contractions propelling blood to
heart through one way valves
respiratory pump- changes in intrathoracic pressure during
expiration and inspiration, forcing blood toward heart

blood