Real-Life Communication
"Cardiologists read and write a tremendous amount," says Denise
Wasko, manager of a cardiology office. "They need to constantly read journals
and reports to keep up to date on new techniques and advances."
Cardiologists
also need to have good communication skills so that they can easily explain
complex heart conditions to their patients.
You are a cardiologist
explaining to Simon's mother that her baby has a congenital heart disease.
She is confused, and wonders what this means. You begin by explaining how
the human heart works.
By reading the following excerpt, help answer
the mother's questions about the heart:
The Anatomy
of the Heart
The heart is a muscle about the size of your fist.
It is encased in a sac called the pericardium. The pericardium helps to keep
the heart in position and protects it from getting hurt.
A layer of
lubricating fluid separates the pericardium and the heart. The fluid allows
the heart to pump freely inside the walls of the chest. The heart is made
up of three layers of muscle: the endocardium, myocardium and epicardium.
The
myocardium makes up about 75 percent of the heart tissue. The epicardium is
a thin lining that covers the myocardium. There is a layer called the endocardium
that is between the myocardium and the inside of the heart. The endocardium
acts as the inner covering of the heart and protects the myocardium.
The
heart functions as a pump. It brings nourishment and oxygen to tissues and
organs and takes away carbon dioxide and waste. The heart is separated into
four different chambers through which blood is pumped. A thick wall of muscle,
called the septum, divides the heart into two halves.
Each half is
then separated into an upper and lower chamber by valves. The upper chambers
are called the atria and are the inputs to the heart. The lower chambers are
called the ventricles and are the outputs of the heart.
(Excerpted
from http://www.bae.ncsu.edu, bioengineering
department. Authors are: Robert Schoderbek, Heidi Lane, Mike Deaton and Joanne
Deverson)
These are Simon's mother's questions:
- What is the pericardium's function?
- What is the difference between the endocardium, myocardium and epicardium?
- Which chambers are the inputs of the heart?