Circulatory System Notes

Functions of Circulatory System

A. Transports nutrients
B. Transports gases
C. Transports wastes
D. Transports hormones
E. Maintain balance of fluids
F. Protection from disease
G. Regulate body temperature
H. Blood clotting

Characteristics of various blood vessels

A. Arteries—from the heart out, large to small, flexible, collect cholesterol
B. Veins—into the heart, small to large, valves to prevent backflow
C. Capillaries—from arteries to veins, one cell wide, responsible for the exchange of blood
gases

Heart—Location, Size and Position

A. Located between the lungs in lower part of chest
B. Triangular organ about the size of your fist.

Heart Chambers
A. Hollow organ
B. Upper two chambers = atria—receiving chambers
C. Lower two chambers = ventricles—discharging chambers
Atria are smaller and have thinner walls than ventricles
D. Composed of cardiac muscle—myocardium
E. Interatrial spetum separates the atria
F. Interventricular septum separates the ventricles
G. Every chamber is lined with endocardium…if this becomes inflamed= endocarditis.
Endocarditis is abrasive to RBCs and a thrombosis (clot) can occur.

Pericardium—covering of heart consisting of two layers of fibrous tissue with space inbetween
A. epicardium—like skin on apple
B. parietal pericardium—loose baggy fit so heart can beat

Heart action
A. Muscular pumping device distributing blood to all parts of the body
1. Contraction = systole
2. Relaxation = diastole
3. Atria contract first (together) and then ventricles

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Valves of heart
A. Atrioventricular (AV) valves separates atria from ventricles
1. Bicuspid on left side
2. Tricuspid on right side
B. AV valves prevent backflow of blood into atria when ventricles contract
C. Chordae tendinae attach valves to wall of heart.
D. Semilunar (SL) valves are located between the 2 ventricles and the large arteries
1. Pulmonary semilunar valve—found at the beginning of the pulmonary artery
(leads to lungs) and allows blood to go to lungs but not back into right ventricle
2. Aortic semilunar valve—found at the beginning of the aorta and allows blood to
flow out of left ventricle into aorta but prevents backflow.

Sounds of heart
A. Lub—AV valves closing as the ventricles contract (longer and lower pitch)
B. Dup—SL valves closing as ventricles relax

External Heart Diagram

1. Right Atrium 6. Inferior Vena Cava 11. Right Pulmonary Vein

2. Left Atrium 7. Aorta 12. Left Pulmonary Vein
3. Right Ventricle 8. Pulmonary Trunk 13. Coronary Artery
4. Left Ventricle 9. Left Pulmonary Artery 14. Apex
5. Superior Vena Cava 10. Right Pulmonary Artery 15. Ligamentum Arteriosum
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Internal Heart Diagram—Homework

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Major Arteries of Humans—Homework

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Major Veins of Humans—Homework

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The heart acts as two separate pumps. The right and left sides work together but perform
different functions.

Pulmonary Circulation
A. Blood enters right atrium through the superior & inferior vena cavas (O2 poor blood from
body).
B. Blood pumped through AV (tricuspid) valve to right ventricle
C. Right ventricle contracts and sends blood through the pulmonary artery to lungs (O2
gained, CO2 lost)

Systemic Circulation
A. O2 rich blood returns to left atrium through pulmonary veins
B. Blood pumped through AV (bicuspid) valve into left ventricle
C. Left ventricle contracts and sends blood to rest of body through aorta

Blood supply to heart

A. Aorta’s first two branches are the right and left coronary arteries
B. Coronary thrombosis and coronary embolism—blood clots that occlude some part of
coronary artery. This causes a myocardial infarction (heart attack)—you can recover if
amount of damage to heart is minimal.
C. Angina pectoris—severe chest pain when myocardium is deprived of O2…often a sign of
blockage
D. Coronary bypass surgery—veins removed from another part of body to replace blocked
coronary arteries

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Hepatic Portal Circulation
• Veins from the spleen, stomach, pancreas, gallbladder and intestines do not pour blood directly into VC,
they send their blood to liver via the hepatic portal vein.
• Blood must pass through the liver before it reenters the regular venous return path to heart.
• Blood leaves the liver by way of the hepatic veins which drain into the inferior VC
• This detour through liver serves valuable purpose:
o When a meal is being absorbed, the blood in the portal vein has higher than normal glucose levels.
The liver cells remove the excess glucose and store as glycogen
o Liver cells also remove and detoxify various poisonous substances in blood.

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Fetal Circulation
o Specialized blood vessels must carry fetal blood to the placenta and return. Three vessels accomplish this
purpose. 2 small umbilical arteries (O2 poor blood) and a single, larger umbilical vein (O2 rich blood)
o Ductus venosus (a con’t of umbilical vein) serves as a shunt allowing most of blood returning from placenta to
bypass the liver and empty directly into inferior VC.
o Two other structures allow most of blood to bypass developing lungs (collapsed until birth)
o Foramen ovale—shunts blood directly from the right atrium to the left atrium
o Ductus arteriosus—connects aorta and pulmonary artery
o At birth, as baby takes its first deep breaths, the circulatory system is subjected to increased pressure. The result
is the closure of the foramen ovale and rapid collapse of the umbilical bvs, ductus venosis and ductus arteriosis.

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Physiology of Circulation
A. Cardiac muscle fibers can contract rhythmically on their own, but need electrical
impulses to be effective (coordination)
B. Intercalacted disks are the electrical connectors
1. Both atrial walls contract together
2. Both ventricular walls contract together
C. Synoatrial (SA) node = pacemaker, located in right atrial wall near opening of Superior
VC. Impulse usually begins here, then spreads throughout atria causing atrial fibers to
contract.
D. Atrioventricular (AV) node –found in right atrium along lower part of interatrial spetum.
When the impulse reaches the AV node, it relays the message via the AV bundle.
E. AV bundle (bundle of HIS)—originates in AV node and extends into interventricular
septum…continues as purkinje fibers. AV bundle together with Purkinje fibers causes
ventricles to contract.
F. Normally, ventricular beat follows atrial beat…however endocarditis or myocardial
infarction can cause disruptions in this cycle.
G. Heart block—impulses blocked to ventricles causing heart to beat much slower than
usual…treated with artificial pacemaker.

Electrocardiogram—measurement of the electrical current in graphic form. 3 waves

A. P Wave—occurs with depolarization of atria—electrical activity triggering contraction
B. QRS Wave—depolarization of ventricles—this masks the repolarization wave of atria
C. T Wave—repolarization of ventricles—just before the relaxation phase.
D. Damage to the cardiac muscle causes skewed ECG and point to diagnosis/treatment.

Blood Pressure—General Info

A. Pressure (push) of blood exists in all bv. (higher in arteries than veins)
B. Pressure is necessary for circulation—otherwise blood wouldn’t move.

Factors influencing BP
A. Blood volume—the higher the volume of blood in arteries = higher pressure on art walls.
B. Strength of heart contractions—each time the heart contracts, a certain volume of blood is
released. The stronger the contraction, the higher the more blood.
C. Heart rate—if the heart rate is up, it usually means that blood volume is down…so
instead of 70 ml x 70 beats (4900 ml/min) you get 40 ml x 100 beats (4000 ml/min)
D. Blood viscosity—thin blood = lower bp
E. Normal bp is 120/80

Pulse—9 major pulse points in body

A. Superficial temporal artery F. Radial artery
B. Facial artery G. Femoral artery
C. Carotid artery H. Popliteal
D. Axillary artery I. Dorsalis pedis
E. Brachial artery

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Circulatory problems—explain each of the following:

Ischemia—Lack of blood supply to heart muscle

Hypertension—high blood pressure (anything consistently over 140/90)

Fibrillation—rapid uncoordinated beating of heart muscle

Congestive Heart Failure—heart in such bad shape that circulation is totally inadequate

Tachycardia—rapid heart rate (over 100 beats/minute)

Angina Pectoris—chest pain caused by lack of oxygen to heart muscle

Bradycardia—slow heart rate (less than 60 beats/minute)

Varicose veins—weak venous valves…gravity forces blood downward, causing stretching of

veins (particularly in lower leg)

Incompetent valve—valve doesn’t close properly

Myocardial infarction—heart attack—death of a part of the heart.

Pericarditis—inflammation of the pericardium

Murmur—abnormal heart sounds caused by valve problems.

Cerebrovascular accident—stroke—results from brain not receiving O2—lack of blood flow

Atherosclerosis—damming up process of blood vessels

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation—procedure used to circulate blood in a person whose heart has

stopped.

Angioplasty—opening up of blood vessels without surgery

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 Anatomy Blood Lecture
Definitions

Plasma—liquid portion of the blood

Serum—clotting proteins found in blood

Composition and functions of blood

1. Granular Leukocytes (BEN)—Large granule in cytoplasm and lobed nucleus

2. Nongranular leukocytes (LM)—granules not visible, normal shaped nucleus
3. Hematocrit—Erythrocyte % of blood (40)—will be variable according to O2
content

Blood Disorders
Polycythemia—excess RBC produced by red bone marrow.

Anemia—inability of blood to carry enough O2 due to the number of RBCs or an RBC problem

Leukopenia—very low WBC count—often occurs during cancer treatment

Leukocytosis—excess WBC—usually die to a bacterial or viral infection

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Leukemia—way too many WBCs are being made too quickly…blood cancer. WBCs can’t do
their job

Sickle Cell Anemia—sickle shaped RBCs, clogs capillaries and don’t carry enough O2 to cells

Pernicious Anemia—lack of Vit B12 absorption—this results in fewer but larger RBCs that don’t
live long

Neutropenia—low neutrophil count

Blood types—indentified by certain antigen on RBC

Antigens—protein that can stimulate body to make antibodies

Antigens are different in persons with different blood types

Antibodies—proteins found in plasma. They are produced by the body to destroy specific
substances (antigens) that have entered the body.

Complete the following table:

Blood Type Agglutinogens Agglutinins or Can donate Can receive
or antigens antibodies in blood to type blood from type
plasma
Type A A Anti B A, AB A, O
Type B B Anti-A B, AB B, O
Type AB A and B NONE AB All
Type O None Anti A and B All O

Rh factor (antigen D)—an extra blood protein is present = Rh+, no extra blood protein = Rh-

Hemostasis (blood clotting)—Homework

Prothrombin and Fibrinogen are blood proteins

Vitamin K stimulates liver cells to make prothrombin

A. Break B. Erythrocytes C. Fibrin D. Fibrinogen

E. Platelets F. Prothrombin G. Serotonin H. Thrombin
I. Thromboplastin
Clotting begins when a (1) . occurs in a blood vessel wall. Almost immediately, (2) ,
cling to the blood vessel wall and release (3) , which helps to decrease blood loss by
constricting the vessel. (4) . is also released. This chemical substance causes (5) .
to be converted to (6) . Once present, thrombin acts as an enzyme to attach (7) .
molecules together to form long, threadlike strands of (8) , which then traps (9) .
flowing by in the blood.
1. A—break 6. H—Thrombin
2. E—Platelets 7. D—Fibrinogen
3. G—Serotonin 8. C—Fibrin
4. I—Thromboplastin 9. B—Erythrocytes
5. F—Prothrombin
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Additional Blood related Problems—Homework

Thrombus—clot in an unbroken blood vessel

Embolus—floating clots in blood vessel, problems only occur when they get stuck.

Agglutination—clumping of RBCs when incorrect blood types are mixed

Hemophilia—factor(s) necessary for clotting are missing

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