CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

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Function of Cardiac
Muscle

Three types of cardiac muscle:

Atrial muscle
Ventricular muscle
Spesialized excitatory and
conductive muscle fibre
The atrial and ventricular types of
muscle similar as skeletal muscle
 Two syncytiums:
The atrial syncytium
The ventricular syncytium
Separated by fibrous
tissue
Conducted by AV bundle
Syncytium
action potential
spreads to all cardiac
cells
`

Cardiac muscle is striated

Cardiac muscle has typical
myofibrils
These filaments lie side and slide
along one another
Intercalated disc
Actually cell membranes
 Cardiac muscle fibers are made
up of many individual cells
Resistance is only 1/400
compared with outside membrane
Cardiac Action
Potential
The coordinated contractions
result from electrical changes that
occur in cardiac cell
Autorhythmic cells generate
action potentials
spread
contractions
 Action potential generated by
autorhythmic cells
Waves depolarization
Spread to contractile cells
Action Potentials in Cardiac
Muscle
 Action potential in ventricular
muscle:
Average 105 mv
Rises from its very negative
value -85 mv to slightly positive
+20 mv
After initial spike, remains
depolarizes 0,2 in atrial and
0,3 in ventricle
Plateau
 Abrupt repolarization at the end
of plateau
Cardiac muscle contraction longer
than skeletal muscle
What causes???

Two major differences:

Types of the opening channels
Major functional difference between
cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle
What causes???

Two major differences:

Action potential of skeletal muscle caused
almost entirely by sudden opening fast
sodium channels
open quickly and then abruptly close
Action potential of cardiac muscle is
caused by the opening:
Fast sodium channels
Slow calcium channels (Calcium-sodium
channels)
 Two major differences:
Major functional difference
Permeability of the cardiac muscle
membrane for potassium ions decreases
about five fold
Decreased caused by the excess calcium

influx
Slow calcium-sodium channels close

potassium permeability increases loss of

potassium from the fiber resting potential
Velocity of Signal
Conduction in Cardiac
Muscle
Along both atrial and ventricular:
0,3-0,5 m/s
Spesialized conductive system: 4
m/s
Refractory Period of
Cardiac Muscle

Refractory to restimulation during

the action potential (Fig)
During which a normal cardiac
impulse cannot re-excite an already
excited area of cardiac muscle
Refractory period 0,25-0,30
Relative refractory period 0,05
Excitation-Contraction
Coupling

Action potential causes the myofibrils of

muscle to contract
Action potential passes over the cardiac
muscle membrane, the action potential
spreads to the interior of the cardiac
muscle fiber along the membrane of the
T-tubules
The T-tubule action potentials in turn act on
the membrane of the longitudinal
sarcoplasmic tubules to cause instantaneous
release of calcium ions into the muscle
sarcoplasm from the sarcoplasmic reticulum
 In another few thousandths of a
second, these calcium ions diffuse
into the myofibrils and catalyze
the chemical reactions that
promote sliding of the actin and
myosin filaments along one
another
muscle contraction
 Second effect that is quite different in
cardiac muscle
Calcium ions that are released into the
sarcoplasm from the cisternae of the
sarcoplasmic reticulum, a large quantity of
extra calcium ions also diffuses into the the
sarcoplasm from the T-tubules themselves
at the time of the action potential
Extracellular calcium has important role
 Sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiac
muscle less well developed than
that of skeletal muscle
Diameter
Mucopoplysaccharides
The strength contraction depend
on extracellular calcium
Duration of
Contraction
Begins to contract a few seconds
after the action potential begins
and continous to contract until a
few milliseconds after the action
potensial ends
Duration of action : 0,2 second in
atrial muscle and 0,3 second in
ventricular muscle
Effect of Heart Rate on
Duration of Contraction

Heart rate increases, duration of

each cycle decreases
Cardiac Out Put

COP: quantity of blood pumped

into the aorta each minute
Venous return: quantity of blood
flowing from the veins right
atrium each minute
Regulation of Heart
Pumping

Rest: COP 4-6 ltr

Level of metabolism
Body surface area
Exercise
Age
Severe exercise: 4-7 x Rest
 Heart pumping regulated:
Intrinsic cardiac regulation
Autonomic nervous system
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

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Excitatory and Conductive
System of the Heart
Excitatory and Conductive
System of the Heart

The heart has a specialized

electrogenic system for:
Generation rhythmical impulses
Conducting
Atria contract ahead ventricular
contraction
 SA node in which the normal rhythmical
impulse is generated
Internodal pathway that conduct the
impulse from SA node to AV node
AV node, impulse from atria is delayed
AV bundle, conducts the impulse from
atria into the ventricles
Purkinje fibers, which conduct the
cardiac impulse to all parts of the
ventricles
SA Node

Characteristics of SA node
Some cardiac fibers have the
capability of self excitation
 Potential membrane of SA node
less negative
Naturally leaky
Remember action potential
Internodal Pathways and
Impulse Transmission

SA node fibers connect directly

with atrial muscle fibers
SA node Atrial and AV node
Velocity: 0,3 m/second
Anterior, middle, posterior
internodal pathways
AV node

Delay of impulse
0,13 second from AV node to AV
bundle
0,03 second from SA Node to AV
node
Caused by:
Smaller size
Limitation of Gap Junction
Rapid transmission

Rapid in purkinje fibers

Large fibers
High level gap junction permeability
Transmission in
Ventricles

Once impulse reaches the ends of

the Purkinje fibers transmitted
through the ventricular mass
SA Node as the peace maker

Rate of the SA node 70-80 x/mnt

Rate of the AV node 40-60 x/mnt
Rate of the Purkinje fibers 15-40
x/mnt