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MBBS The Cardiovascular System: The Heart — practice questions

Explore 17 free The Cardiovascular System: The Heart questions in MBBS Physiology. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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The Cardiovascular System: The Heart questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–17 of 17.

Which post-natal vessels are unusual in that they are arteries carrying relatively deoxygenated blood?Read the answer and worked solution →Approximately what percentage of ventricular filling is contributed by atrial contraction just before ventricular systole?Read the answer and worked solution →Cardiac conductive cells make up only about what fraction of the cells in the atria and ventricles, with the rest being contractile cells?Read the answer and worked solution →A junction between two adjoining cardiac muscle cells, containing desmosomes and gap junctions, is called what?Read the answer and worked solution →Approximately how long does the total conduction pathway take, from initiation of the impulse in the SA node until depolarization of the ventricles is complete?Read the answer and worked solution →On a normal ECG tracing, which wave represents depolarization of the atria?Read the answer and worked solution →What is the period of contraction, during which the heart pumps blood into circulation, called?Read the answer and worked solution →On a scale used to grade heart murmurs from 1 to 6, which end of the scale represents the most severe murmur?Read the answer and worked solution →Cardiac output (CO) is calculated using which formula?Read the answer and worked solution →The difference between maximum cardiac output during peak exercise and resting cardiac output is known as what?Read the answer and worked solution →The two paired cardiovascular centers that provide nervous control over heart rate are located in which part of the brain?Read the answer and worked solution →Which cranial nerve carries parasympathetic impulses from the cardioinhibitory center to slow heart rate?Read the answer and worked solution →A resting adult heart rate below approximately 60 bpm is termed what?Read the answer and worked solution →Fill in the heart factsRead the answer and worked solution →Spot the odd one outRead the answer and worked solution →Spot the lieRead the answer and worked solution →Work out the numberRead the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

Which post-natal vessels are unusual in that they are arteries carrying relatively deoxygenated blood?

  1. The pulmonary trunk and its branches
  2. The aorta and its major branches
  3. The pulmonary veins alone
  4. The coronary arteries alone
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Correct answer: A. The pulmonary trunk and its branches

1. Arteries are usually defined by carrying blood away from the heart, and most carry oxygenated blood. 2. The right ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood into the pulmonary trunk, which branches into the pulmonary arteries toward the lungs. 3. These pulmonary trunk arteries and branches are the only post-natal arteries in the body carrying relatively deoxygenated blood. 4. The aorta and coronary arteries carry oxygenated blood, and the pulmonary veins (not arteries) carry oxygenated blood back to the heart so none of these three matches the exception described. _Source: OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology (CC BY 4.0), Ch 19 "The Cardiovascular System: The Heart", section 19.1, p. 827_

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Approximately what percentage of ventricular filling is contributed by atrial contraction just before ventricular systole?

  1. About 50 percent
  2. About 20 percent
  3. About 80 percent
  4. Nearly 100 percent
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Correct answer: B. About 20 percent

1. Most blood flows passively into the ventricle while both the atria and ventricles are relaxed. 2. Toward the end of the ventricular relaxation period, the left atrium contracts and actively pumps additional blood into the ventricle. 3. This active atrial contraction accounts for approximately 20 percent of ventricular filling. 4. 50 percent would overstate the atrial contraction's real share by a wide margin. 5. 80 percent is actually the passive share that fills the ventricle before atrial contraction, not atrial contraction's own share. 6. Nearly 100 percent would mean the ventricle barely fills passively at all, which contradicts the mostly-passive filling described. _Source: OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology (CC BY 4.0), Ch 19 "The Cardiovascular System: The Heart", section 19.1, p. 836_

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Cardiac conductive cells make up only about what fraction of the cells in the atria and ventricles, with the rest being contractile cells?

  1. About 25 percent
  2. About 50 percent
  3. About 1 percent
  4. About 75 percent
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Correct answer: C. About 1 percent

1. There are two major types of cardiac muscle cells: myocardial contractile cells and myocardial conducting cells. 2. Myocardial contractile cells constitute the bulk, about 99 percent, of the cells in the atria and ventricles. 3. The myocardial conducting cells, which form the heart's conduction system, make up only about 1 percent of the cells. 4. 25 percent, 50 percent, and 75 percent all greatly overstate the small conducting-cell fraction actually found in the heart. _Source: OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology (CC BY 4.0), Ch 19 "The Cardiovascular System: The Heart", section 19.2, p. 846_

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