ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY II · MODULE 15
Serositis reaches the heart
Sharp chest pain at 3 a.m. that eased when she leaned forward, a scratchy rub on the stethoscope, and a small effusion on echo. This module builds the heart and reads recurrent pericarditis as FMF serositis wrapping the sac around it.
The findings this module reads together
Age forty-four: anteriorThe front of the body or toward the front when standing in the anatomical position. chest pain, worse on deepAway from the surface of the body. breaths and lying flat, better sitting forward. An ER doctor heard a friction rub. The echo showed a small effusion between the pericardial layers and otherwise normal chambers and valves.
No single episode looked systemic, and each was handled alone — one of them as anxiety. But positional pleuritic pain with a rub and diffuse ECG changes is pericarditis, not ischemia, and the pericardiumThe membrane surrounding the heart. is a serous membrane like the ones already inflamed in her abdomen.
PATIENT CHART · STINA · CHART CLUE #15
- Age 44, 3 a.m. — Sharp pain, better leaning forward
- Exam — Pericardial friction rub
- Echo — Small pericardial effusion
- Told — ‘Probably anxiety’
Seven parts, one chart
Each part opens with a finding from Stina’s chart and asks you to commit to a prediction before any video plays, then alternates short videos with H5P activities. Work them in order.
15.1
A Sharp Pain That Leans Forward
Chest pain with a position that relieves it.
PERICARDITIS
15.3
The Heart’s Wiring
The conductionThe transmission of nerve impulses along neurons. system and what an ECG shows.
CONDUCTION
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The Evidence Behind the Case
Every step of this module’s reasoning, paired with the peer-reviewed literature behind it.
REFERENCES
What you’ll be able to do
By the end of Module 15 you will be able to:
1
Describe the anatomyThe study of the structure of the human body. of the heart, its chambers, valves, and great vessels.
2
Trace the path of blood through the pulmonary and systemic circuits.
3
Describe the conduction system and relate it to the ECG.
4
Explain the cardiac cycle, heart sounds, stroke volume, and cardiac output.
5
Compare cardiac muscle with skeletal muscle in structure and electrophysiology.
6
Distinguish pericarditis from myocardial ischemia on clinical grounds.
Hop to:
← Familial Mediterranean Fever — case home
All Modules
- Anatomical Language, Membranes & Homeostasis
- Just Enough Chemistry
- The Cell & Its Transport
- Making Cells & Proteins
- The Integumentary System
- The Skeletal System
- The Muscular System
- Nervous Tissue & the Senses
- The Spinal Cord
- The Brain & the Blood–Brain Barrier
- The Autonomic Nervous System
- Special Senses (in developmentThe process of growth and differentiation.)
- The Endocrine System
- Blood
- The Heart
- Blood Vessels
- The Digestive System
- The Respiratory System
- The Urinary System
- Fluids, Electrolytes & Acid–Base Balance
- The Reproductive System
- The Immune System
List of terms
- anterior
- deep
- pericardium
- conduction
- anatomy
- development