MDSA20180

This module forms part of the core curriculum for students studying medicine. It focuses on the structures and functions of the human heart and provides an introduction to the effects of disease upon cardiac function. Topics covered include the anatomy of the heart including surfaces, chambers, valves, fibrous skeleton and conducting system, the coronary circulation, embryology of the heart, autonomic nervous system, as well as microscopic structure and function, energy generation and metabolism of cardiac cells. The module describes action potentials in ventricular muscle and pacemaker cells, the cardiac conducting system as well as electrocardiography in health and disease. Furthermore, mechanical events of the cardiac cycle such as ventricular pressures and volumes, atrial and venous pressures and heart sounds are reviewed. The module describes the regulation of cardiac output by preload, afterload and the autonomic nervous system and provides an introduction to myocardial infarction and heart failure.