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Introduction
• The cardiovascular system or sometimes that have also been known a as the
blood vascular system or the simply circulatory is composed by :
1. Heart
2. Blood Vessels @ Vasculature
3. Cells and Plasma that make up the blood for our body.
• The blood vessels of the body represents a closed delivery system that have
functions to :
1. Transports blood around the body.
2. Circulating substances such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients,
hormones and waste products.
• There are 3 mains types of blood vessels such as veins, arteries, and
capillaries.
• The principles function of the heart is to continuously pump blood around the
cardiovascular system and body. It receives the both of sympathetic and
parasympathetic nerve fiber which alter the rate of the beat.
The vital sign of the cardiovascular system is to maintaining homeostasis which
depends on the continuous and controlled movement of blood through the thousand
of miles capillaries that penetrate every tissue and reach every cell in the body.

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Objectives
⇒ Describe the size and location of the heart, including its base and apex.
⇒ Describe the vessels that supply blood to cardiac muscle.
⇒ Describe the valves and its functions.
⇒ What is the function of the conduction system of the heart?
⇒ Starting with SA node, describe the route taken by an action as it goes
through the conducting system of the heart.

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Rough descriptive image

of human heart
1. The human heart is shaped like an upside-down pear and is located slightly to
the left of center inside the chest cavity.
2. About the size of a closed fist, the heart is made primarily of muscle tissue
that contracts rhythmically to propel blood to all parts of the body.
3. It typically weighs about 325±75g in men and 275 ± 75 g in women.
4. The heart can be described as having three surfaces and an apex.
5. About two thirds of the heart is to the left of the mid-line.
6. The anterior surface of the heart is formed mainly by the right ventricle and is
in contact with the ribs and sternum.
7. The inferior surface of the heart is formed mainly by the left ventricle and is
in contact with the diaphragm.
8. The posterior surface of the heart is formed mainly by the left atrium.
9. This surface is also known as the base of the heart.
10.The apex which is anterior to the rest of the heart consists only of the left
ventricle and forms an important clinical landmark when assessing the size of
the heart.
11.The aorta and the pulmonary trunk arise from the left and right ventricles
respectively at the superior pole of the heart
12.The superior and inferior vena cavae open into the upper and lower parts of
the right atrium.
13.There are four pulmonary veins which open into the back of the left atrium.
14.The junction between the atria and the ventricles is marked by the
atrioventricular groove and the junction between the ventricles both
posteriorly and anteriorly is marked by the interventricular grooves.

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Base of the Heart

1. Base of the heart, directed upward, backward, and to the right, is separated
from the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth thoracic vertebra by the esophagus,
aorta, and thoracic duct.
2. It is formed mainly by the left atrium, and, to a small extent, by the back part
of the right atrium.
3. Somewhat quadrilateral in form, it is in relation above with the bifurcation of
the pulmonary artery, and is bounded below by the posterior part of the
coronary sulcus (groove or fissure), containing the coronary sinus.
4. On the right it is limited by the sulcus terminalis of the right atrium, and on
the left by the ligament of the left vena cava and the oblique (pertaining to
muscles running obliquely in the body as opposed to those running
transversely or longitudinally) vein of the left atrium.
5. The four pulmonary veins, two on either side, open into the left atrium, while
the superior vena cava opens into the upper, and the anterior vena cava into
the lower, part of the right atrium.

Apex of the heart

1. Apex of the heart is the lowest superficial part of the heart.
2. It is directed downward, forward, and to the left, and is overlapped by the left
lung and pleura.
3. It lies behind the fifth left intercostals space, 8 to 9 cm. from the mid-sternal
line, slightly medial to the midclavicular line.

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4. Alternately, it can be found about 4 cm. below and 2 mm. to the medial side
of the left mammary papilla.
5. Its function is to pump blood to left atrium.

Vessels that supply blood

to cardiac muscle
1. The heart is nourished not by the blood passing through its chambers but by a
specialized network of blood vessels. Known as the coronary arteries, these
blood vessels encircle the heart like a crown.
2. About 5 percent of the blood pumped to the body enters the coronary arteries,
which branch from the aorta just above where it emerges from the left ventricle.
3. Three main coronary arteries—the right, the left circumflex, and the left anterior
descending—nourish different regions of the heart muscle.
4. From these three arteries arise smaller branches that enter the muscular walls of
the heart to provide a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients.
5. Veins running through the heart muscle converge to form a large channel called
the coronary sinus, which returns blood to the right atrium.

Heart Valves
Heart valves are valves in the heart that maintain the unidirectional flow of blood by
opening and closing depending on the difference in pressure on each side.

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Mitral Valve
1. The mitral valve (also known as the bicuspid valve or left
atrioventricular valve), is a dual flap (bi = 2) valve in the heart that lies
between the left atrium (LA) and the left ventricle (LV).
2. In Latin, the term mitral means shaped like a miter, or bishop's cap.
3. The mitral valve and the tricuspid valve are known collectively as the
atrioventricular valves because they lie between the atria and the ventricles
of the heart and control flow.

Tricuspid Valve
1. The tricuspid valve is on the right side of the heart, between the right
atrium and the right ventricle.
2. The normal tricuspid valve usually has three leaflets and three papillary
muscles.

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3. Tricuspid valves may also occur with two or four leaflets, and the number
may change during life.

Aortic Valve
1. The aortic valve is one of the valves of the heart.
2. It lies between the left ventricle and the aorta.
3. The aortic valve has three cusps.
4. These cusps are half moon shaped hence also called aortic semi lunar valve.
5. Each cusp has a small swelling in the center called the nodule.
6. Dilatation of the wall of the aorta behind these cusps is called aortic sinus.
7. When the aortic valve is open, the normal size of the orifice is 3-4 cm² in
adults.
8. During ventricular systole, pressure rises in the left ventricle.
9. When the pressure in the left ventricle rises above the pressure in the aorta,
the aortic valve opens, allowing blood to exit the left ventricle into the aorta.
10.When ventricular systole ends, pressure in the left ventricle rapidly drops.
11.When the pressure in the left ventricle decreases, the aortic pressure forces
the aortic valve to close.
12.The closure of the aortic valve contributes the component of the second
heart sound (S2).

Pulmonic Valve
1. Pulmonic valve is the semi lunar valve of the heart that lies between the
right ventricle and the pulmonary artery and has three cusps.
2. Similar to the aortic valve, the pulmonic valve opens in ventricular systole,
when the pressure in the right ventricle rises above the pressure in the
pulmonary artery.

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3. At the end of ventricular systole, when the pressure in the right ventricle falls
rapidly, the pressure in the pulmonary artery will close the pulmonic valve.
4. The closure of the pulmonic valve contributes the component of the second
heart sound (S2).
5. The right heart is a low-pressure system, so the component of the second
heart sound is usually softer than the component of the second heart sound.
6. However, it is physiologically normal in some young people to hear both
components separated during inhalation.

Generation of the
Heartbeat
1. Unlike most muscles, which rely on nerve impulses to cause them to contract,
heart muscle can contract of its own accord.
2. Certain heart muscle cells have the ability to contract spontaneously, and
these cells generate electrical signals that spread to the rest of the heart and
cause it to contract with a regular, steady beat.
3. The heartbeat begins with a small group of specialized muscle cells located in
the upper right-hand corner of the right atrium.
4. This area is known as the sinoatrial (SA) node.
5. Cells in the SA node generate their electrical signals more frequently than
cells elsewhere in the heart, so the electrical signals generated by the SA
node synchronize the electrical signals traveling to the rest of the heart.
6. For this reason, the SA node is also known as the heart’s pacemaker.
7. Impulses generated by the SA node spread rapidly throughout the atria, so
that all the muscle cells of the atria contract virtually in unison.

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8. Electrical impulses cannot be conducted through the partition between the

atria and ventricles, which is primarily made of fibrous connective tissue
rather than muscle cells.
9. The impulses from the SA node are carried across this connective tissue
partition by a small bridge of muscle called the atrioventricular conduction
system.
10.The first part of this system is a group of cells at the lower margin of the right
atrium, known as the atrioventricular (AV) node.
11.Cells in the AV node conduct impulses relatively slowly, introducing a delay of
about two-tenths of a second before an impulse reaches the ventricles.
12.This delay allows time for the blood in the atria to empty into the ventricles
before the ventricles begin contracting.
13.After making its way through the AV node, an impulse passes along a group
of muscle fibers called the bundle of His, which span the connective tissue
wall separating the atria from the ventricles.
14.Once on the other side of that wall, the impulse spreads rapidly among the
muscle cells that make up the ventricles.
15.The impulse travels to all parts of the ventricles with the help of a network of
fast-conducting fibers called Purkinje fibers.
16.These fibers are necessary because the ventricular walls are so thick and
massive.
17.If the impulse had to spread directly from one muscle cell to another,
different parts of the ventricles would not contract together, and the heart
would not pump blood efficiently.
18.Although this complicated circuit has many steps, an electrical impulse
spreads from the SA node throughout the heart in less than one second.
19.The journey of an electrical impulse around the heart can be traced by a
machine called an electrocardiograph.
20.This instrument consists of a recording device attached to electrodes that are
placed at various points on a person’s skin.
21.The recording device measures different phases of the heartbeat and traces
these patterns as peaks and valleys in a graphic image known as an
electrocardiogram (ECG, sometimes known as EKG).

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22.Changes or abnormalities in the heartbeat or in the heart’s rate of contraction

register on the ECG, helping doctors diagnose heart problems or identify
damage from a heart attack.

PICTURES & DIAGRAM

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Conclusion
As a nurse, we must know anything related to the functions of body systems that
appear to be a big factor in their health maintainence. Their organization of body
system must well corporated in performing functions to be a well-health human
being.
As a Pacemaker of our life, cardiac system may be the most important in
many people’s thought. As for the heart, it is the main criteria that involves in
determining “is this people healthy enough?”.
We, as a professional nurses must enrich ourselves in getting deeper into this
contribution – aiming at people awareness of their heart importance to their life. Is it
difficult to handle that responsible? Think about it, you’ll save dozens of life if you
improve your readings and enrich your beautiful knowledge if you search for more
about our heart.
After then, we can conduct our instrument and well known about their usage
especially reading the ecg (electrocardiograph) and get used to the steps using the
electrocardiogram machine. Also, we can identify the different sounds of the heart
by using stethoscope or only by using our bare hands by doing palpation.

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Cantin, M. and J. Genest. (1986). The heart as an endocrine gland. Clinical

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Childre, D. (1992). Self Empowerment: The Heart Approach to Stress

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Lacey, J. I. and B. C. Lacey (1978). Two-way communication between the

heart and the brain: Significance of time within the cardiac cycle. American
Psychologist (February): 99-113.

Lewis, T. (1918). The Soldier’s Heart and the Effort Syndrome. London, Shaw.

Grossarth-Maticek, R. and H.J. Eysenck (1995). Self-regulation and mortality

from cancer, coronary heart disease and other causes: A prospective study.
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Sandman, C. A., B. B. Walker, et al. (1982). Influence of afferent

cardiovascular feedback on behavior and the cortical evoked potential. In: J.
Cacioppo, J. T. and R. E. Petty, eds. Perspectives in Cardiovascular
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Umetani, K., D. H. Singer, et al. (1998). Twenty-four hour time domain heart
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