Welcome to this comprehensive course on Cardiovascular Physiology, designed to help you understand the physiological mechanisms behind important cardiovascular conditions and their clinical consequences. Throughout the course, we explore how the cardiovascular system regulates blood pressure, how hypertension develops, and how physiological mechanisms such as the baroreceptor reflex and renin-angiotensin system contribute to blood-pressure control. You will also learn about major hypertension risk factors and the basic mechanisms of antihypertensive drug therapy.
The course then moves into the physiology of shock, covering its major causes, including hypovolemic, cardiogenic, and distributive changes. You will understand the three stages of shock—non-progressive, progressive, and irreversible—and how compensatory mechanisms initially attempt to maintain blood pressure before progressive tissue and cellular injury can occur. A major part of the course focuses on myocardial ischemia. You will learn how an imbalance between myocardial oxygen supply and demand develops and how factors such as coronary blood flow, vascular resistance, oxygen-carrying capacity, preload, afterload, heart rate, and contractility influence this balance.
The course also clearly distinguishes ischemia, hypoxia, and infarction, followed by an examination of what happens to myocardial cells during ischemia. Topics include metabolic changes, reversible cell injury, reperfusion injury, pulmonary congestion, ion disturbances, ventricular arrhythmias, and the progression toward irreversible myocardial damage.
