Description
This book focuses on established cardiovascular principles and highlights some of the progress achieved by recent research in the cardiovascular field. The authors report the basic concepts related to the functioning of the cardiovascular system necessary for medical students to understand. To foster learning, in each chapter the fundamental points are highlighted in italics and/or bold. In addition, we have added boxes that contain some more detailed information about physiological mechanisms or clinical aspects are analyzed and described in greater detail. The book describes the structure and function of the heart and vascular system for the reader to understand how the cardiovascular system responds in both health and disease. The book conveys a unified vision of the function of the heart and the vascular system, explaining the complexity of the system that goes far beyond the integrated connection between preload, afterload and cardiac contractility. The endothelium covers the internal part of the whole cardiovascular system; therefore, endothelial physiology is treated in several chapters. Given the importance of coronary circulation in cardiac pathophysiology, this special circulation is described in detail and enriched with the most up-to-date information. Several paragraphs and boxes on clinical implications are dedicated to the principles of electrophysiology and the electrocardiogram. A space is also dedicated to myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and cardioprotective procedures. The book is written in a linear and simple language without compromising the scientific rigor of the various topics covered.
Table of Contents
1 Cardiovascular System 2 Structure and Function of the Myocardial Fiber 3 Cardiac Electrophysiology 4 Functional Tissue of the Heart 5 The Cardiac Cycle 6 Cardiac Output and the Venous Return to the Heart 7 Regulation of Cardiac Contraction Force 8 Arterial Pressure 9 Work and Heart Metabolism 10 Electrocardiogram 11 Vascular Hemodynamics 12 Nervous Control of the Cardiovascular System 13 Humoral Control of the Cardiovascular System 14 District Circulations 15 Pulmonary Circulation 16 Coordinated Cardiovascular Adaptations 18 Lymphatic Circulation 19 Functional Imaging of the Cardiovascular System: How to Study Human Physiology In Vivo
