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Cardiac physiology or heart function is the study of healthy, unimpaired function of the heart: involving blood flow; myocardium structure; the electrical conduction system of the heart; the cardiac cycle and cardiac output and how these interact and depend on one another.
Major factors influencing cardiac output – heart rate and stroke volume, both of which are variable. [1]In cardiac physiology, cardiac output (CO), also known as heart output and often denoted by the symbols , ˙, or ˙, [2] is the volumetric flow rate of the heart's pumping output: that is, the volume of blood being pumped by a single ventricle of the heart, per unit time (usually measured ...
Often expressed in cm/s. This value is inversely related to the total cross-sectional area of the blood vessel and also differs per cross-section, because in normal condition the blood flow has laminar characteristics. For this reason, the blood flow velocity is the fastest in the middle of the vessel and slowest at the vessel wall.
Venous return (VR) is the flow of blood back to the heart. Under steady-state conditions, venous return must equal cardiac output (Q), when averaged over time because the cardiovascular system is essentially a closed loop. Otherwise, blood would accumulate in either the systemic or pulmonary circulations.
In a normal heart, the heart rate is the rate at which the sinoatrial node depolarizes since it is the source of depolarization of the heart. Heart rate, like other vital signs such as blood pressure and respiratory rate, change with age. In adults, a normal heart rate is between 60 and 100 bpm (normocardic), whereas it is higher in children. [56]
In a healthy heart all activities and rests during each individual cardiac cycle, or heartbeat, are initiated and orchestrated by signals of the heart's electrical conduction system, which is the "wiring" of the heart that carries electrical impulses throughout the body of cardiomyocytes, the specialized muscle cells of the heart.
In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. [1] [2] It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart and blood vessels (from Greek kardia meaning heart, and Latin vascula meaning vessels).
The heart is supplied by coronary vessels, and therefore CPP is the blood pressure within those vessels. If pressures are too low in the coronary vasculature, then the myocardium risks ischemia (restricted blood flow) with subsequent myocardial infarction or cardiogenic shock.