Pulmonary Circulation, Cardiac Muscle Cells

30.12 A thrombus in the anterior descending branch of the left ventricle coronary artery might cause sudden death because this artery supplies blood to most of the left myocardium in the left ventricle (Applegate, 2000, 248). If the blood supply to this muscle is obstructed by a thrombus, the heart could not pump blood to the body and so death would ensue quickly. The thrombus would cause a lethal heart attack.

30.13 Cardiac muscle cells are elongated and branching, with one or two nuclei per cell (Applegate, 2000, 244-245). They appear striated because of the arrangement of their myofibrils. The cells are connected to each other by intercalated discs and gap junctions, and are arranged around the heart in a spiral fashion to form the myocardium. Skeletal muscle are made up of hundreds of muscle fibers bundled together and wrapped in connective tissue (123-124). Each muscle is covered with a connectiv

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lation is more serious than atrial fibrillation because it results in very little blood being pumped into the circulation, and death can occur rapidly if this happens (American Heart, 2004). Atrial fibrillation results in incomplete emptying of the atria, and can lead to blood clot formation: blood clots may then reach the brain and cause a stroke. However, ventricular fibrillation is a more urgent situation and if medical attention is not available immediately, death may ensue. 32.5 Two events occurring in the body which aid in venous return are an increase in heart rate and an increase in blood pressure. 32.6 The walls of arteries are proportionately thicker than the walls of veins because they contain more muscle (Applegate, 2000, 260). This is because they have to withstand and maintain the pressure of the blood that is pumped from the heart. The veins do not receive blood under pressure: they receive it from the capillaries where the pressure it at its lowest, so do not need heavy musculature. 32.10 a) left thumb-left radial vein-left brachial vein-left axillary vein-left subclavian vein-left internal jugular-left brachiocephalic vein-superior vena cava-right atrium-tricuspid valve -right ventricle-pulmonary
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Approximate Word count = 1801
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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