Maintenance of the Body
Unit 2: The Cardiovascular System
Unit outline
Blood
Part 1: An Overview of Blood
- Functions of blood
- Composition of blood
- Characteristics of blood
- Blood plasma
Part 2: Production of the Formed Elements
- Sites of hemopoiesis
- Differentiation of formed elements from stem cells
- Hemopoietic growth factors
Part 3: Erythrocytes
- Hemoglobin
Part 4: Leukocytes and Platelets
- Characteristics of leukocytes
- Platelets
- Disorders of platelets
Part 5: Hemostasis
- Vascular Spasm
- Formation of the platelet plug
- Coagulation
- Clotting factors involved in coagulation
- Extrinsic pathway
- Intrinsic pathway
- Common pathway
- Fibrinolysis
- Plasma anticoagulants
- Disorders of clotting
The Heart
Part 1: Heart Anatomy
- Location of the heart
- Chambers and circulation through the heart
- Membranes, surface features, and layers
- Internal structure of the heart
- Heart valve structure and function
- Coronary circulation
Part 2: Cardiac Muscle and Electrical Activity
- Conduction system of the heart
- Electrocardiogram
Part 3: Cardiac Cycle
- Pressure and flow
- Phases of the cardiac cycle
- Heart sounds
- Cardiac output
Part 4: Cardiac Physiology
- Heart rates
- Correlation between heart rates and cardiac output
- Cardiovascular centres
- Other factors influencing heart rate
Blood Vessels and Circulation
Part 1: Structure and function of blood vessels
- Shared structures
- Arteries
- Arterioles
- Capillaries
- Venules
- Veins
Part 2: Blood flow, blood pressure, and resistance
- Components of arterial blood pressure
- Pulse
- Measurement of blood pressure
- Variables affecting blood flow and blood pressure
- Cardiac output
- Compliance
- Blood volume
- Blood viscosity
- Vessel length and diameter
- Venous system
- Skeletal muscle pump
- Respiratory pump
Part 3: Capillary Exchange
Part 4: Hemostatic Regulation of the Vascular System
- Neural regulation
- The cardiovascular centres in the brain
- Baroreceptor reflexes
- Endocrine regulation
- Autoregulation of perfusion
Part 5: Circulatory Pathways
- Pulmonary circulation
- Overview of systemic arteries
- The aorta
- Coronary circulation
- Aortic arch branches
- Thoracic aorta and major branches
- Abdominal aorta and major branches
- Arteries serving the upper and lower limbs
- Overview of systemic veins
- The superior and inferior vena cavae
- Veins draining the lower limbs
Learning Objectives
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
I. Describe the general nature and functions of blood, specify the main components of blood and describe the importance of each.
II. Describe the production of the formed elements of blood.
III. Describe the major factors that stimulate the body to produce more erythrocytes.
IV. Specify the types of leukocytes (white blood cells), their origins and relative quantities in normal blood.
V. Describe the procedure, what information is provided by, and the normal range for the following tests: hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct).
VI. Describe th