Anatomic and Physiological Cardiovascular Clinical Disorder, Tetralogy of Fallot
Health Science Student
Faculty of Health Science, University of the People
HS2211-01 Human Anatomy and Physiology
Instructor, Whitney Oberndorf
11th May 2022
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Anatomic and Physiological Cardiovascular Clinical Disorder, Tetralogy of Fallot
The cardiovascular system is one of the major systems of the human body. There are nine major systems in the
human body, the integumentary system is composed of the skin and its accessories, the musculoskeletal system,
the respiratory system, the circulatory system, the digestive system, the excretory system, and the nervous
system, the endocrine system, and the reproductive system. These systems may have other systems within them
too, and some of them are the immune system, lymphatic system, skeletal system, urinary system found in the
excretory system, and many more. The cardiovascular system may be found under the circulatory system, and it
is vital to the transportation of many vital substances in the body.
The cardiovascular system is composed of the heart, veins, arteries, and capillaries. These components make up
two circulatory systems, the systemic and pulmonary circulatory systems. The cardiac cycle consists of two
phases, systole (relaxation) and diastole (contraction) which is the heartbeat cycle (Sherrell Z, 2021). Blood is
also part of this system though it is not talked about a lot. However, the cardiovascular system cannot be talked
about without talking about the functions of blood and the role blood plays in the system. The heart acts as the
engine of this system, it pumps blood throughout the body. This blood transports vital substances like oxygen,
red blood cells, white blood cells, hormones, platelets, and food nutrients (OpenStax, 2018)
The heart has four distinct chambers, the two upper chambers named atria and the two lower chambers called
ventricles (OpenStax, 2018). However, the heart is divided into two sections, the right, and the left. Therefore
the upper chambers have the right and left atrium and the lower chambers, have the right and left ventricles.
The septum is a wall or partition that separates or divides the atria and ventricles (OpenStax, 2018). It is by the
help of this septum that prevents s the mixing of deoxygenated blood and the oxygenated blood would lead to
death. Valves control the flow of blood within the different chambers by opening and closing accordingly during
the cardiac cycle (Sherrell Z, 2021). These valves are also found in blood vessels, especially veins but also in
Iymph vessels too which transport lymph fluid and are held in position by connective tissues called tendons.
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Any defects that would happen to the valves and the tendons can lead to serious heart failures and abnormal
heartbeats that produce strange sounds.
When the septum is not fully closed during embryo development it may cause serious conditions like Tetralogy
of Fallot (OpenStax, 2018). Tetralogy of Fallot is congenital, which means defects at birth, the condition may
also occur from contact with unknown environmental factors, it occurs when there is an opening in the
interventricular septum caused by