Prakash ES. Problem Solving Exercises in Cardiovascular Physiology & Pathophysiology. Revised July 2014 Problem Solving Exercises in Cardiovascular Physiology and Pathophysiology Elapulli S. Prakash, MBBS, MD Division of Basic Medical Sciences, Mercer University School of Medicine Macon, GA, USA E-mail:
[email protected] 1 Prakash ES. Problem Solving Exercises in Cardiovascular Physiology & Pathophysiology. Revised July 2014 Some notes on terminology: Unless otherwise specified, the term BP refers to systemic arterial blood pressure obtained in the brachial artery held at the level of the heart, and mean arterial pressure refers to mean systemic arterial pressure. stroke volume, end-diastolic volume, end-diastolic pressure, and ejection fraction, refer to parameters of the left ventricle. systolic pressure, diastolic pressure, pulse pressure, mean arterial pressure all refer to pressures in the systemic arteries. Any other usage of these terms should be with appropriate qualifications; example, pulse pressure in pulmonary artery. 2 Prakash ES. Problem Solving Exercises in Cardiovascular Physiology & Pathophysiology. Revised July 2014 Questions and Answers: 1. Does constriction of arterioles in finger flexors increase mean arterial pressure (MAP)? It may or it may not. Vasoconstriction in a tissue (i.e., an increase in Local Vascular Resistance, LVR) does not necessarily increase total peripheral resistance (TPR; aka. systemic vascular resistance (SVR). MAP is the product of SVR and cardiac output, and one cannot predict with certainty if a change in LVR in one tissue will TPR and or cardiac output. Vasoconstriction in certain tissues (example, coronary circulation), may elicits a reflex increase in sympathetic discharge. This may result in an increase in TPR. Myocardial ischemia, CNS ischemia, ischemia of metabolically active skeletal muscle, renal ischemia, are all known to elicit reflex increases in sympathetic discharge to resistance vessels that may result in a rise in MAP.