CEA Nursing Practice Exam

During which phase of the cardiac cycle would you expect to auscultate an S3 heart sound?

1. Diastole

2. Systole

3. 53 in systole while S4 in diastole

4. S4 in diastole while S3 in systole

The correct answer is: Diastole

The presence of an S3 heart sound is typically associated with the diastolic phase of the cardiac cycle. During diastole, the heart chambers are filling with blood, which can lead to increased volume and decreased compliance of the ventricles. This condition is particularly noted in states such as heart failure or when there is rapid ventricular filling. The S3 sound, often described as a "gallop" rhythm, occurs shortly after S2, during the rapid filling phase of the ventricles. It results from the vibrations of the ventricular walls as they fill quickly with blood, indicative of a volume overload or increased flow. Understanding this, an auscultation at this time would reveal the S3 sound, which is why the correct answer points to the diastole phase. Other options may imply the presence of heart sounds at the wrong phases or mix them up, but S3 is definitively a diastolic sound related to the filling of the heart.