Development and organization of the cardiovascular system structures: theoretical and practical aspects of the study (Part 1)

The article highlights the theoretical and practical aspects of studying the development and structure of the cardiovascular system (CVS). Cardiovascular diseases are characterized by a high prevalence and mortality, so the provision of high-quality and timely cardiac care to the population is one of the important tasks of the health care system. A necessary prerequisite for understanding the essence of morphological changes in pathological processes is knowledge of the normal structure and development of CVS structures. The aim of the work was to determine the theoretical and practical aspects of studying the development and structure of CVS structures, which was performed by review of literature sources (part 1 of the article is devoted to theoretical aspects, and part 2 discusses the practical aspects). Publications on human anatomy, histology, cytology and embryology, which are traditionally used in the study of the development and structure of the human body, in particular, CVS organs, have been analyzed. The sets of illustrations of modern publications, in addition to photos of wet gross specimens, corrosion preparations and X-ray radiographs, contain angiograms, in particular, lymphangiograms and arteriograms. The use of color atlases in the study of CVS allows to remember the anatomical structure and relative position of organs, as well as details of their histological structure. It is effective to use anatomical and histological flash cards, which contain color illustrations in combination with short text that identifies the structures and contains relevant information and clinical correlations, in the process of CVS study. The illustrations include photographs of histological sections for light microscopy, electronograms, drawings of preparations, and diagrams of the microscopic structure of CVS structures. Most educational publications in the disciplines "Human Anatomy" and "Histology, Cytology and Embryology" include data on the sources and stages of embryogenesis of the heart and blood vessels. There are also special editions on human embryology with up-to-date data on CVS embryogenesis. The importance of using editions which are manuals for the practical activities of specialists in the field of cardiology and cardiac surgery is determined. All modern editions contain large collections of X-ray, computer, magnetic resonance and histological images. The resources of simulation centers are useful, in particular, touch interactive anatomical tables with special software and anatomical 3D atlases. Software programs designed for educational demonstration of various parts of human CVS under normal and pathological conditions are available for smartphones, tablet PCs and desktop computers. An important feature of virtual resources in histology is their interactivity and the ability to apply theoretical knowledge in practice. Available platforms have dynamic and rich content for the teacher to work with a large number of students simultaneously. Many of the analyzed manuals contain numerous links to external sources of information, online versions of publications, which allows to gain access all texts, links and videos from various devices. Therefore, it is important to use clinically oriented educational publications to obtain high quality theoretical training in the study of the development and structure of the heart and vessels. When developing new educational materials, it is promising to include clinical and experimental data on CVS to them.