Cardiovascular physiology

Cardiovascular physiology is the study of the circulatory system. More specifically, it addresses the physiology of the heart ("cardio") and blood vessels ("vascular").

These subjects are sometimes addressed separately, under the names "cardiac physiology" and "circulatory physiology".

Although the different aspects of cardiovascular physiology are closely interrelated, the subject is still usually divided into several subtopics.

Heart

 * See Heart for more details


 * Cardiac output (= heart rate * stroke volume. Can also be calculated with Fick principle.)
 * Stroke volume (= end-diastolic volume - end-systolic volume)
 * Ejection fraction (= stroke volume / end-diastolic volume)
 * Inotropic, chronotropic, and dromotropic states


 * Electrical conduction system of the heart
 * Electrocardiogram
 * Cardiac pacemaker
 * Cardiac action potential


 * Frank-Starling law of the heart
 * Wiggers diagram
 * Pressure volume diagram

Blood vessels

 * See Blood vessel for more details


 * Compliance
 * Microcirculation
 * Starling equation
 * Fick's law of diffusion
 * Poiseuille's law
 * Skeletal-muscle pump

Regulation of blood pressure

 * Baroreceptor
 * Baroreflex
 * Renin-angiotensin system
 * Renin
 * Angiotensin
 * Juxtaglomerular apparatus
 * Aortic body and carotid body
 * Autoregulation

Hemodynamics
Under most circumstances, the body attempts to maintain a steady mean arterial pressure.

When there is a major and immediate decrease (such as that due to hemorrhage or standing up), the body can increase the following:


 * Heart rate
 * Total peripheral resistance (primarily due to vasoconstriction of arteries)
 * Inotropic state

In turn, this can have a significant impact upon several other variables:
 * Stroke volume
 * Cardiac output
 * Pressure
 * Pulse pressure (systolic pressure - diastolic pressure)
 * Mean arterial pressure (usually approximated with diastolic pressure + 1/3 pulse pressure)
 * Central venous pressure