Cardiovascular System and Cardiac Function

What this unit covers

This page brings together material on how the heart works and how blood is moved and controlled. The resources were made by GoConqr users and cover cardiac muscle, the cardiac cycle, the ECG, cardiac output, blood pressure and common conditions such as hypertension and heart failure.

Where to start

Begin with the big picture. The mind map called Cardiovascular system and the flashcard deck The Cardiovascular System give a broad overview. Then move to the flashcard decks Cardiac Cycle and Cardiac Muscle, which are useful for the sequence of events in each heartbeat.

Building up the detail

• The ECG mind map explains the main deflections, including how the QRS complex represents ventricular depolarisation and what the PR interval measures.
• The Cardiac Output mind map links heart rate, stroke volume, preload, afterload and contractility.
• The Cardiac Output Concept map adds the effect of agents that raise or lower heart rate.
• The ECG and Mean Cardiac Vector note connects excitation-contraction coupling to why the ECG matters.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then test yourself. The quiz Lectures 3-6 Cardiac Physiology asks which statements about cardiac myocytes are true, for example the role of the Na+/K+ ATPase in the resting membrane potential. The quiz ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THE HEART asks you to drag labels onto a diagram. Wrong answers show you which map to reopen.

Later, move on to clinical topics such as the mind maps on hypertension, syncope and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and the notes on RAAS. Several resources mention ACSM-CPT, so they may suit fitness professionals too.

Where it sits

This unit belongs to the Cardiovascular System strand of Physiology. Work through it in the order above, then try a quiz and make your own flashcards from the gaps you find.