ABSTRACT
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
state the key cardiovascular responses to hypoxia (18.1);
list the principal causes of acute circulatory failure (clinical shock) (18.2);
describe the reflexes that support blood pressure (BP) during hypovolaemia (18.2);
explain the cardiovascular basis of fainting (18.3);
define ‘clinical hypertension’ and list its main ill effects (18.4);
draw the hypertensive pressure pulse and explain (1) the rise in mean pressure; and (2) the disproportionate increase in systolic pressure (18.4);
outline the chief aetiological theories for hypertension (18.4);
define chronic heart failure and sketch the altered ventricular function curve (18.5);
outline the changes in excitation-contraction coupling and electrophysiology of failing myocytes (18.5);
list the changes in cardiac performance and peripheral circulation associated with heart failure (18.5);
explain dyspnoea and how oedema arises in heart failure (18.5).
