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THE BEAT GOES ON: THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM AND CIRCULATORY PHYSIOLOGY |
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The cardiovascular system is the ultimate hydraulic pumping system, delivering blood filled with oxygen and nutrients to the body's organs and removing waste products of metabolism (carbon dioxide) from tissue cells. During the course of a single day, the heart-a hollow, cone-shaped muscular pump about the size of two clenched fists-beats approximately 100,000 times and processes approximately 2,100 gallons of blood through its four chambers: the left and right atria and the left and right ventricles. In the average lifetime, the tireless heart beats 2.5 billion times and pumps 100 million gallons of blood, which travel through a complex circulatory system of large and small vessels. If laid out end to end, these vessels would stretch for more than 60,000 miles, or nearly six times the earth's diameter. The good news is that, if treated right, the elaborate and amazingly efficient cardiovascular system hardly ever breaks down. The bad news is that, far too often, our heart is overworked and underpaid. Before 1900, few people died of heart disease. But with the arrival of automation and a changing lifestyle that included less strenuous exercise and a diet too high in fatty foods, heart disease has become the number one killer of both men and women in the United States. More than 2,600 Americans die each day of cardiovascular disease-an average of one death every 33 seconds. According to several surveys conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association, 58,800,000 Americans have some type of cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and congestive heart failure. If all forms of cardiovascular disease were eliminated, life expectancy would rise by almost ten years. Fortunately, through comprehensive investigations like the 30-year Framing-ham Study, the causes of heart disease are known as are, to a certain extent, the cures and ways to prevent cardiovascular disease. This evening, mini-medical students will take a "walk through the heart," learning about it's physiology, risk factors for disease, and the treatments of today and the future. |
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Arthur M. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D. Harry S. Tack Professor of Medicine and Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology
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Dr. Feldman is director of UPMC Health System's Cardiovascular Institute, which was named among the top 40 heart programs in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report. His research (funded by the National Institutes of Health) includes studies of heart failure in a mouse model and pro-inflammatory cytokines (substances that help regulate the immune system) as mediators of heart failure. He conducts clinical trials and serves on the steering committee of the multi-center Renaissance Trial, one of the first large-scale studies to evaluate cytokine inhibition, a new approach to studying chronic heart failure. He also chairs the steering committees of a wearable cardiac defibrillator (WEAR-IT) study, the Companion study (bi-ventricular pacing for congestive heart failure), and the Enoximone multi-center studies (Enoximone in the treatment of congestive heart failure). Dr. Feldman, who has been listed in the Best Doctors in America, received his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and his M.D. from Louisiana State University. He completed an internship, residency, and fellowships at John Hopkins University, where he served as director of the heart failure research program. He joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1994 and is currently president of the Heart Failure Society of America. |
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Henry T. Bahnson Professor of Surgery
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Dr. Griffith is chief of heart and lung surgery at UPMC Health System; and his prolific research career includes more than 400 articles, papers, and abstracts about heart and lung transplantation. In the 1980s, he developed new procedures in heart, heart-lung, and lung transplantation; designed and carried out innovative immunotherapeutic trials; and led the clinical effort in what was then the largest thoracic transplant program in the country. As a promising by-product of that work, Dr. Griffith initiated a program of mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to transplantation and completed sentinel work with the revolutionary Jarvik-7 total artificial heart. He leads the School of Medicine's Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and is director of the McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development. He is also principle investigator of NIH-sponsored trials testing the use of aerosol cyclosporine for lung transplant recipients and developing the TCI Corporation's Heart Mate II blood pump. Recent honors include the 1999 Western Pennsylvania History & Landmark History Makers Award for Medicine and Health, a 1998 Rolex Achievement Award, and being named to The Best Doctors in America. A graduate of Bucknell University and Thomas Jefferson Medical College, Dr. Griffith completed his general and cardiothoracic surgical training at Pitt and joined the School of Medicine in 1980. |
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Assistant Professor of Medicine
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Dr. Smith is director of the cardiac catheterization laboratories at the School of Medicine. His extensive clinical research includes serving as the site principal investigator for such multi-center clinical trials as New Approaches to Coronary Intervention (NACI), Wall Stent Device for Treatment of SV CABG (WINS), Wallstent in Native Vessels (WIN), and Stent Comparative Restenosis (SCORES). He received his B.S. from Stanford University (1983) and his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco (1987). Dr. Smith completed his internship and residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he was also a clinical fellow and clinical and research interventional fellow in cardiology. In 1994, he joined the University of Pittsburgh, where he also serves on the Cardiology Fellowship Selection Committee. Dr. Smith, who was director of interventional cardiology from 1994-1998, has made numerous presentations for both public and professional audiences on topics like myocardial infarction, angioplasty, advances in lipid treatment, and prevention of coronary artery disease. |
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The
Heart: An Online Exploration
— A thorough but basic description of the cardiovascular system from its
development and structure to information on how to monitor your heart’s health
and tips on how to keep it healthy Michigan
Electronic Library: Health and
Information Resources (Heart and Cardiovascular System) — Great resource page
with links to other web pages about the cardiovascular system, including pages
about exercise, nutrition, and specific cardiovascular diseases The
Yale University School of Medicine Heart Book — A comprehensive look at
the cardiovascular system broken down into sections on the heart, circulation,
blood, and control of cardiovascular function (Adobe Acrobat needed) |
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Cardiovascular
Disease in the Elderly Patient.
Donald
D. Tresch & Wilbert S. Aronow, eds. (New
York, Marcel Dekker, 1999) The
Circulatory System (The Healthy Body). Regina
Avraham & C. Everett Koop. (New
York, Chelsea House Publishing, 1989) |
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