Cardio Overview

Cardiophys - Overview for Western Phys December Exam

• more heavily tested than the other parts just because there is more material
• focus more on the last half of the material

The Heart

• know cells of conduction - can be used in many different questions
• whats the difference between skeletal muscles and cardiac muscle cells? - one question

Cardiac Output- FOCUS HERE

• Cardiac Cycle
• understand the chart, know when volumes are high and low
• understand what happens at each stage of volume change (atrial systole, etc.)
• Cardiac Output
• cardiac output = HR x stroke volume
• what alters the HR? How?
• What alters the stroke volume? How?

Vascular Function - FOCUS HERE

• blood flow is effected by pressure and radius
• what happens when you increase/decrease the pressure/radius?
• know charts about cross sectional area, velocity and pressure in different vessels

Cardiovascular Regulation - FOCUS HERE

• what causes vasoconstriction?
• what causes vasodilation?
• I have not seen any past questions regarding specific theories of regulation (ex. what is true about humoral regulation?). I wouldn't focus so much on knowing individual theories.