Question 1

The subclavian arteries carry blood to the:

Accepted Answer

The subclavian arteries carry oxygenated blood to the arms.

Question 2

Digital arteries carry blood to the:

Accepted Answer

Digital arteries carry blood to fingers and toes. The celiac artery and the mesenteric arteries carry blood to the gastrointestinal tract. The eyes and facial muscles are supplied with blood by branches of the carotid arteries.

Question 3

An EKG measures:

Accepted Answer

An EKG detects the electrical activity of the heart, but it does NOT measure the pressures within the heart or the strength of its mechanical contraction. Patients with pulseless electrical activity, a common rhythm found in cardiac arrest, have normal electrical activity within the heart, but no heart beat or effective circulation.

Question 4

The popliteal artery pulse is most easily detected:

Accepted Answer

The popliteal artery is difficult for many students to palpate; it is located behind the knee. The femoral artery is felt in the groin. The dorsalis pedis artery is felt posterior to the medial ankle. The radial artery is felt at the wrist.

Question 5

The blood vessels that feed blood into the right atrium are the:

Accepted Answer

Blood that enters the right atrium comes from both the superior and inferior venae cavae, and from the coronary sinus (which drains deoxygenated blood from the myocardium).

Question 6

The septum between the right and left atria has an opening, called the _______________, which usually closes after birth, isolating the deoxygenated blood that returns to the heart from the oxygenated blood that returns from the lungs.

Accepted Answer

The foramen ovale in the muscular septum between the right and left atria normally closes after birth. The foramen magnum is at the base of the skull. The foramen Magendie connects the fourth ventricle of the brain to the subarachnoid space. The foramen cecum of the frontal bone is an opening in the anterior portion of the skull.

Question 7

The epicardial coronary arteries are located on the surface of the heart and supply blood to the heart muscle (the myocardium). The left main coronary artery is the largest of these. It splits into:

Accepted Answer

The left main coronary artery supplies blood to most of the left ventricle of the heart. It divides into the left anterior descending artery and the circumflex.

Question 8

The heart's pacemaker, called the sinoatrial (SA) node, is located in:

Accepted Answer

The sinoatrial node is located in the upper right-hand corner of the right atrium.

Question 9

The fibrous sac that encircles most of the heart is called the:

Accepted Answer

The pericardium surrounds the heart. The pleura is a similar structure that surrounds the lungs. The myocardium is the muscle of the heart. The epicardium is the outside surface of the heart.

Question 10

The thoracic aorta becomes the abdominal aorta after it passes through the:

Accepted Answer

The thoracic aorta begins at the aortic valve, runs upward toward the neck, and then runs downward toward the diaphragm. It becomes the abdominal aorta after it passes through the diaphragm.

Question 11

Cardiac chambers empty when they contract (during systole), and fill when they relax (diastole). Which of the cardiac valves is open during diastole?

Accepted Answer

During ventricular diastole, the left ventricle fills with blood from the left atrium. The valve separating these two chambers of the heart is open during diastole to allow blood to flow into the ventricle.

Question 12

A loud murmur heard at the base of the heart which radiates to the sternal notch and the carotid arteries is most likely produced by the:

Accepted Answer

A murmur heard at the base of the heart which radiates superiorly is most likely an aortic murmur, indicative of disease in the valve that separates the left ventricle from the aorta. Murmurs result from turbulent flow through valves and are often caused by irregularities in the endothelium of valves, or disruptions in normal valve functioning. They may be heard in systole or diastole.

Question 13

A systolic murmur audible at the apex of the heart which radiates into the left axilla of the patient is most likely to be the murmur of:

Accepted Answer

The murmur of mitral regurgitation is heard at the apex of the heart and radiates into the left axilla. It is a systolic murmur.

Question 14

Which of the following abnormal sounds is heard during diastole?

Accepted Answer

The murmur of mitral stenosis is heard during diastole, when blood flows from the left atrium into the left ventricular during ventricular filling. Carotid bruits are noises heard during systole, as blood is ejected from the heart into the conduit vessels and rushes through the carotid arteries. Carotid bruits are heard only when there is some atherosclerosis of the carotid arteries; the degree of arterial obstruction can be assessed with ultrasonography. Both aortic stenosis and hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy block the flow of blood out of the left ventricle during systole. Both cause murmurs heard in systole.

Question 15

Which of the following body structures is typically damaged by injection drug use?

Accepted Answer

Debris, diluents, and bacteria injected into the skin during injection drug use typically injure the tricuspid valve of the heart. They may also cause septic emboli in the lungs and other serious infectious complications.

Question 16

During the assessment of a patient, a student nurse hears heart tones on the right side of the chest and notices there is a murmur that radiates from the area near the right nipple into the right axilla. She concludes:

Accepted Answer

Heart tones are normally heard near the sternum, and on the left side of the chest. Heart tones primarily heard on the right side of the body suggest situs inversus.

Question 17

In which of the following diseases or conditions is heart block present?

Accepted Answer

Heart block is a term used to describe a slowing electrical conduction through the heart. There are several kinds of heart block (first degree, second degree, third degree, Wenckebach, etc.). The P-R interval is a measure of the time it takes an electrical impulse to travel from the heart's pacemaker, through the atria and the atrioventricular node to the ventricles. A P-R interval greater than 0.2 seconds is indicative of first-degree heart block. This is the mildest form of heart block; it is unusual for it to cause serious signs or symptoms in a patient.

Question 18

In which of the following diseases or conditions is heart failure present?

Accepted Answer

Heart failure is an inability of the heart to pump enough oxygenated blood to body tissues to meet the metabolic demands of the body. A healthy heart typically ejects about 55% to 70% of the blood that is in the left ventricle at end-diastole into the aorta during systole. Hearts that can only eject about 40% of end diastolic volume typically cannot meet the needs of people to lead normally active lives. The QRS interval is the time it takes for the electrical activity of the heart to travel through the myocardium.

Question 19

In which of the following diseases or conditions is the activity of the heart muscle restricted by an external force?

Accepted Answer

When a large quantity of fluid accumulates rapidly in the pericardium, this pericardial effusion can restrict the pumping action of the heart. Pericardium effusions accumulate rapidly in many diseases or conditions (e.g., when the myocardium ruptures or when metastatic cancer grows inside the pericardial sac). The T wave of the electrocardiogram is a representation of the repolarization of the heart. T wave inversions can be seen in several conditions, including myocardial ischemia or left ventricular hypertrophy. A soft diastolic blow at the base of the heart is a murmur heard in people with aortic regurgitation.

Question 20

In which of the following diseases or conditions would one likely see acute S-T segment elevation on an electrocardiogram?

Accepted Answer

In a patient with chest pain, ST segment elevation is one of the hallmarks of acute myocardial infarction. ST segment elevation in myocardial infarction is commonly abbreviated as STEMI. Mitral valve prolapse is a chronic condition in which the chordae tendineae of the heart are longer or more elastic than normal, allowing the mitral valve to billow back into the left atrium during ventricular systole. Skeletal deformities of the chest wall, like pectus excavatum or pectus carinatum are unlikely to cause acute changes on an electrocardiogram. The most common electrocardiographic finding in a patient with a high fever is sinus tachycardia.

Quiz 24: Cardiology