Download Diseases and disorders of the cardiovascular system

THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
The heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood through blood vessels to
all parts of the body. It sits between the lungs, in the mediasternum
(medial = middle, sternum= the central bone between the ribs).
The heart has two major functions
1 To pump blood rich in oxygen from the lungs and into the blood vessels
where it is carried to all the body tissues.
2 To collect blood low in oxygen and high in carbon dioxide, from the blood
vessels and pump it into the lungs (the pulmonary system) where the carbon
dioxide is released and fresh oxygen is taken in.
The heart pumps blood through the body at a rate of approximately 80 beats per
minute, 24 hours a day.
Activity 1
Try to find your pulse. Open one hand with the palm upwards and place the
fingers of the other hand lightly over the wrist. Press the fingers firmly into the
wrist, below the thumb and to the outer side of the bones in the middle of the
wrist. You are feeling for a soft, pulsing sensation. If you cannot find it, gently
move your finder tips over the area. Do not use your thumb as it has its own
pulse and it will confuse you. Count the number of beats you feel over a minute.
This is your pulse rate.
Heart
Organ
Root
Combining form
Example
Meaning
Heart
Card
Cardi/o
Carditis*
Inflammation of the
heart
(note the combining vowel ‘o’ and the ‘i’ of cardi are dropped when –itis
is added. This is because the combing vowel is normally dropped with
the addition of a prefix beginning with a vowel, and the general rule it
that you may not have two of the same vowels together – so one of the
‘i’s is dropped as well).
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Heart Chambers
The heart is divided into four major chambers
1 The left and the right atria (atrium singular) that are at the top of the heart
and receive blood from the body and the lungs
2 The left and right ventricles (ventricle singular) that are at the bottom of the
heat and pump blood to the body and the lung
The walls of the heart are thick and muscular, and are composed of three layers
1 The EPICARDIUM = (epi - prefix meaning above, upon or beside) the
outer layer
2 The MYOCARDIUM = (my/o – combining form of muscle) the muscular
middle layer
3 The ENDOCARDIUM = (endo - prefix meaning inner or within) the inner
layer
The heart is covered with a membrane called the PERICARDIUM (peri – prefix
meaning around).
New
prefix
Meaning
Example
Peri-
Around
Pericardium – the sac that surrounds the heart
Activity 2
Fill in the blank cells with either the appropriate meaning or word
Word
Meaning
1
Enlargement of the heart
2
Cardialgia
3
Pericarditis
4
5
Relating to the outer layer of the heart wall
Cardiomyopathy
6
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Heart Valves
Valves are situated in the heart to stop blood from flowing backwards. There
are valves between each atrium and ventricle, and also between each ventricle
and the blood vessels they feed into.
Blood Vessels
There are three major types of blood vessels in the body.

ARTERIES carry blood away from the heart and to the body and lungs.
Arteries have thick walls and pulse as blood is being pumped through
them. If they are cut blood will spurt from them.

VEINS return blood from the body and lungs to the heart. If these are cut
the blood will seep from them.

CAPILLARIES are tiny blood vessels and connect the arteries to the
veins.
Organ
Root
Combining
form
Example
Blood
vessel
vas
Vas/o,
vascul/o
Cardiovascular Relating to the
heart and blood
vessels
angi
Angi/o
Angiogram
X-ray of a blood
vessel
ven
Ven/o
Venogram
X-ray of a blood
vessel
phleb
Phleb/o
Phlebitis
Inflammation of
the vein
arter
Arter/i. Atrer/o
Vein
Artery
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Meaning
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Activity 3
Fill in the blank cells with either the appropriate meaning or word
Word
1
Cardioangiogram
2
3
Meaning
Surgical repair of an artery
Arteriospasm
4
Incision into a vein (use phleb/o)
5
Vasoconstriction
6
Vasodilation
Blood circulation
Blood circulates through the body in a figure eight. The middle of the eight is
the heart. One side is the lungs, and the other represents the body.
Veins
Lungs
Body
Heart
Arteries
In this diagram, the dark arrows indicate the blood has low levels of oxygen.
The lighter arrows show that the blood is rich in oxygen.
Blood low in oxygen flows from the body, through large veins called the inferior
and superior vena cava. These veins feed into the right atrium of the heart.
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From the right atrium, blood moves into the right ventricle and into the
pulmonary arteries that takes the blood to the lungs.
In the lungs the blood is filled with oxygen, and this oxygen rich blood is then
transported back to the heart through the pulmonary veins. The pulmonary
veins flow into the left atrium of the heart, and then into the left ventricle. From
there the oxygen rich blood is pumped into the aorta, the largest artery in the
body. Then the cycle begins again.
Coronary circulation
The heart muscle also needs a continual supply of oxygen rich blood. The
arteries and veins that supply oxygen rich blood to the heart muscle and drain
away oxygen poor blood are known as coronary circulation
Activity 4
Look at the diagram of the heart and the circulation and answer the following
questions
1. How many chambers does the heart have?
2. What are the names of the two top chambers of the heart?
3. What are the names of the bottom two chambers?
4. Is the blood that flows from the lungs to the heart rich or poor in oxygen?
5. Does an artery or a vein carry blood from the heart to the body?
Diseases and disorders of the cardiovascular system
Disease
Definition
Angina pectoris
Pain caused by an insufficient supply of oxygen to the
heart muscle
Arrhythmia
Abnormal heart beat
Bradycardia
Slow heart beat
Cardiomegaly
Enlargement of the heart
Embolism
A clot in a blood vessel
Endocarditis
Inflammation of the inner layer of the heart
Hypertension
High blood pressure
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Hypotension
Low blood pressure
Ischaemia
Lack of oxygen to an organ
Myocardial
Heart attack – where part of the heart muscle dies
infarct
Myocarditis
Inflammation of the middle layer of the heart
Pericarditis
Inflammation of the membrane around the heart
Tachycardia
Fast heart beat
Thrombosis
The abnormal condition of having a clot in a blood
vessel
Activity 5
Read the following paragraph and rewrite it using lay terms
The patient, a middle aged man, had no previous history of cardiopathy, apart
from mild hypertension. On the day of his hospitalisation, he went for his normal
morning walk and felt acute cardialgia. On returning home he collapsed and his
wife called the ambulance. On arrival at CCU he was unconscious, pale and
tachycardic. The cardiac tracing showed many arrhythmias. Within minutes of
arrival, the patient suffered a myocardial infarct resulting in death. The autopsy
results showed a thrombosis of the coronary artery had caused massive
ischaemia to the myocardium.
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