Cardiovascular Physiology
Cardiac cycle, pressure-volume relations, vascular control, microcirculation, coronary circulation and shock physiology.
How to prepare for the current Primary FRCA MCQ
Build mechanisms first, practise calculations with units, connect equipment to failure modes and finish every SBA by choosing the single best answer to the exact lead-in.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Preload, afterload, contractility, heart rate and rhythm interact to determine stroke volume and cardiac output.
Exam cue: Separate pressure from flow and global oxygen delivery from regional perfusion.
Concept 2
Resistance, compliance, autoregulation and oxygen delivery connect pressure and flow to tissue perfusion.
Exam cue: Use the cardiac cycle to localise a pressure, valve or waveform event.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Assuming normal arterial pressure guarantees adequate cardiac output or oxygen delivery.
Guardrail: Do not choose an option merely because it states a true fact; choose the one that best answers the exact lead-in under the stated conditions.
Treating a static filling pressure as a direct measure of fluid responsiveness.
Guardrail: Do not choose an option merely because it states a true fact; choose the one that best answers the exact lead-in under the stated conditions.
Memory anchors
What determines cardiac output?
Heart rate multiplied by stroke volume; stroke volume reflects preload, afterload, contractility and ventricular interaction.
What is vascular resistance?
The pressure difference across a vascular bed divided by flow.
What is compliance?
Change in volume divided by change in pressure.
What determines oxygen delivery?
Cardiac output multiplied by arterial oxygen content.
Why can pressure and perfusion diverge?
Vascular tone may preserve pressure despite low flow, while regional or microcirculatory failure can impair tissue delivery.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
Cardiac output is 5 L/min and heart rate is 100 beats/min. What is stroke volume?
Which phase of the ventricular pressure-volume loop corresponds to closure of the mitral valve followed by rising pressure at constant volume?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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