Cardiovascular physiology

Cardiovascular physiology is the study of the circulatory system, specifically addressing the physiology of the heart ("cardio") and blood vessels ("vascular").

These subjects are sometimes addressed separately, under the names cardiac physiology and circulatory physiology.^[1]

Although the different aspects of cardiovascular physiology are closely interrelated, the subject is still usually divided into several subtopics.

Heart

Under most circumstances, the body attempts to maintain a steady mean arterial pressure.

When there is a major and immediate decrease (such as that due to hemorrhage or standing up), the body can increase the following:

In turn, this can have a significant impact upon several other variables:

Name of circulation	% of cardiac output	Autoregulation	Perfusion	Comments
pulmonary circulation	100% (deoxygenated)			Vasoconstriction in response to hypoxia
cerebral circulation	15%^[2]	high	under-perfused	Fixed volume means intolerance of high pressure. Minimal ability to use anaerobic respiration
coronary circulation	5%	high	under-perfused	Minimal ability to use anaerobic respiration. Blood flow through the left coronary artery is at a maximum during diastole (in contrast to the rest of systemic circulation, which has a maximum blood flow during systole.)
splanchnic circulation	15%	low		Flow increases during digestion.
hepatic circulation	15%			Part of portal venous system, so oncotic pressure is very low
renal circulation	25%	high	over-perfused	Maintains glomerular filtration rate
skeletal muscular circulation	17%^[3]			Perfusion increases dramatically during exercise.
cutaneous circulation	2%^[4]		over-perfused	Crucial in thermoregulation. Significant ability to use anaerobic respiration

Cardiovascular physiology at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Cardiovascular Physiology Concepts - Comprehensive explanation of basic cardiovascular concepts, based on a textbook of the same name.
The Gross Physiology of the Cardiovascular System - Mechanical overview of cardiovascular function. Free eBook and video resources.
Clinical Sciences - Cardiovascular An iPhone app covering detailed cardiovascular physiology and anatomy
Quantitative Cardiovascular Physiology and Clinical Applications for Engineers

Cardiac output	Cardiac cycle Cardiac output Heart rate Stroke volume Stroke volume End-diastolic volume End-systolic volume Afterload Preload Frank–Starling law of the heart Cardiac function curve Venous return curve Wiggers diagram Pressure volume diagram

Ultrasound	Fractional shortening = (End-diastolic dimension End-systolic dimension) / End-diastolic dimension Aortic valve area calculation Ejection fraction Cardiac index

Heart rate	Cardiac pacemaker Chronotropic (Heart rate) Dromotropic (Conduction velocity) Inotropic (Contractility) Bathmotropic (Excitability) Lusitropic (Relaxation)

Conduction	Conduction system Cardiac electrophysiology Action potential cardiac atrial ventricular Effective refractory period Pacemaker potential Electrocardiography P wave PR interval QRS complex QT interval ST segment T wave U wave Hexaxial reference system

Chamber pressure	Central venous Right atrial ventricular pulmonary artery wedge Left atrial ventricular Aortic

Other	Ventricular remodeling

Blood flow	Compliance Vascular resistance Pulse Perfusion

Blood pressure	Pulse pressure Systolic Diastolic Mean arterial pressure Jugular venous pressure Portal venous pressure

Regulation of BP	Baroreflex Kinin–kallikrein system Renin–angiotensin system Vasoconstrictors Vasodilators Autoregulation Myogenic mechanism Tubuloglomerular feedback Cerebral autoregulation Paraganglia Aortic body Carotid body Glomus cell

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.