Cardiovascular System

Learn the causes of congenital heart disease and heart failure through the heart’s anatomy, ischemia, homeostasis, arrhythmias, valvular disease and pericardial disease.

Learning Objectives

• Clinical Pathologic Correlation of Heart
  • Describe the five commonest presentation of heart disease and correlate these to pathophysiology and diagnostic testing.
    
    
• Heart Structure
  • Describe the structure of the heart, including regional anatomy, surface anatomy, internal structure, tissue architecture, cellular architecture (contractile & conducting myocytes), ultrastructure & proteins (actin-myosin interaction & calcium signal), and DNA.
  • Explain internal anatomy of the heart through short axis view and blood supply of the ventricular wall.
    
    
• Heart Ischemia and Infarction
  • Correlate heart structure to cardiac symptoms.
  • Explain the keys of surface and internal anatomy of the heart through perfusion.
  • Describe the approach to Shortness of Breath by correlating the pathophysiology to history, P/E, imaging, and lab testing.
  • Describe the approach to Chest Pain by explaining ischemic heart disease (determinants of myocardial ischemia and tissue perfusion), atherosclerosis (stable vs. unstable plaque), Acute Coronary Syndrome (unstable angina, non-STEMI, STEMI).
    
    
• Heart Regulation and Disease
  • Explain the regulation of blood pressure & volume and the sympathetic nervous system response to hypotension and related pharmacology.
  • Explain Congestive Heart Failure, including pathophysiology, left ventricular CHF, right ventricular CHF, natural history, and treatment.