Blood Vessels

 P.693 The blood vessels of the body form a

closed delivery system that begins and ends
at the heart
 Arteries – carry blood away from the heart,
they “branch,” “diverge”
 Arteries, arterioles, and capillaries
 Veins – carry blood toward the heart, so they
“join,” “converge”
 Capillaries, venules, and veins
 In the systemic circulation, arteries always
carry oxygenated blood and veins always
carry oxygen-poor blood
 In the pulmonary circulation, it is opposite.
The arteries carry oxygen-poor blood to the
lungs and the veins carry oxygen-rich blood
to the heart
 Exchange between blood and tissue cells
occur through the thin capillary walls
Structure of Blood Vessel
Walls
 Most vessels have three distinct layers,
or tunics, that surround a central blood-
containing space, the vessel lumen
 Tunica interna or tunica intima –
the innermost tunic, also called
endothelium, the simple squamous
epithelium, that lines the lumen of all
blood vessels
 Tunica media – the middle tunic,
mostly circularly arranged smooth
muscle cells. Vasoconstriction and
vasodilation are due to the effect on the
smooth muscle cells
 Tunica externa or tunica adventitia
– connective tissue, that protects and
reinforce the vessel
Arterial System
 P.695 Conducting (Elastic) Arteries – the
aorta and its major branches
 P.696 Distributing (Muscular) Arteries –
which deliver blood to specific body organs
 Arterioles – have two tunics, tunica media
and tunica interna
 Capillaries – exceedingly thin walls just a
thin tunica interna
 P.698 Capillary beds – Capillaries do
not function independently. Instead
they form interweaving networks
 Microcirculation – The flow of blood
from an arteriole to a venule, that is,
through a capillary bed
Venous System
 P.698 Blood is carried from the capillary beds
toward the heart by veins
 Venules – are formed when capillaries unite
 Veins – Venules join to form veins. Veins
usually have three distinct tunics, but their
walls are always thinner and their lumens
larger than those arteries
 P.699 Venous valves – that prevent
blood from flowing backward
 Varicose veins –
 Vascular anastomoses - where
vascular channels unite. Most organs
receive blood from more than one
arterial branch, and supplying same
territory often merge
 P.701 Blood flow – is the volume of blood
flowing through a vessel, or an organ in a
given period (ml/min)
 Blood pressure (BP) – the force per unit
area exerted on a vessel wall by the blood,
expressed as mmHg
 P.702 Resistance – is opposition of flow and
is a measure of the amount of friction blood
encounters as it passes through the vessels
 As most friction is encountered in the
peripheral circulation, well away from
the heart called peripheral resistance
 There are three important sources of
resistance: blood viscosity, vessel
length, and vessel diameter
 Blood viscosity – the greater the
viscosity, the slower the flow
 Total blood vessel length – the
longer the vessel, the slower the flow
 Blood vessel diameter – Because
blood viscosity and vessel length
normally unchanging. Changes in blood
vessel diameter are frequent, and
significantly alter peripheral resistance
Relationship Between Flow,
Pressure, and Resistance
 Resistance (R) =Pressure (P)/Flow (F)
 Blood flow is inversely proportional to
the peripheral resistance in the systemic
circulation, if R increases F decreases
 Systemic Blood Pressure –
The pumping action of the heart
generates blood flow. Pressure results
when flow is opposed by resistance
 P.703 Arterial Blood Pressure – two
factors: (1) compliance or distensibility
(2) the volume of blood forced into
them at any time
 Figure 19.6
 Systolic Blood Pressure
 Diastolic Blood Pressure
 Pulse Pressure
 Venous Blood Pressure – venous blood
pressure is steady and changes very little
during the cardiac cycle
 P.704 Despite the structural modifications of
veins (large lumens and valves), venous
pressure is normally too low to promote
adequate venous return
 Hence, two functional adaptations are
critically important to venous return
 The respiratory pump –
 The muscular pump –
 Maintaining Blood Pressure -
R=P/F
 P. 705 Vasomotor center – that
oversees the changes in the diameter of
the blood vessels, located in the
medulla oblongata
 Any increase in sympathetic activity
produces vasoconstriction and a rise in
blood pressure
 Decreased sympathetic activity allows
the vascular muscle to relax and causes
blood pressure to decline
 Vasomotor fibers release norepineph-
rine which is a potent vasoconstrictor
 P.705 Vasomotor activity is modified by
inputs from:
 P.706 (1) Baroreceptors (pressure
sensitive) that respond to changes in
arterial pressure and stretch
 P.707 (2) Chemoreceptors that
respond to changes in blood levels of
O2, CO2 and H+
 Baroreceptors are located in the
carotid sinus and aortic arch
 Chemoreceptors located close to the
baroreceptors in the carotid sinus and
aortic arch
 Adrenal medulla hormones –
 Angiotensin II –
 Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) -
 Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)
 Antidiuretic hormone (ADH)
 P.710 Pulse – the alternating
expansion and recoil of elastic arteries
during each cardiac cycle that create a
pressure wave and transmitted through
the arterial tree
 You can feel a pulse in any artery close
to the body surface by compressing the
artery against firm tissue, and this
provides an easy way to count heart
rate
 Radial pulse – is routinely used
 Brachial pulse –
 Carotid pulse -
 The pulse of a healthy man may be
around 66 beats/min when he is lying
down, 70 when he sits up, 80 when he
suddenly stands
 During vigorous exercise or emotional
upset, pulse rates between 140 and 180
are not unusual because of sympathetic
effects on the heart
Measuring Blood Pressure
 P.710 Auscultatory method –
Systemic arterial blood pressure is
measured indirectly in the brachial
artery of the arm
 The blood pressure cuff or
sphygmomanometer is the
instrument
 The sounds of Korotkoff
 Hypertension – high blood pressure,
may be transient or persistent
 P.711 Chronic hypertension – is a
common and dangerous disease that
warns of increased peripheral
resistance. An estimated 30% of
people over the age of 50 years are
hypertensive
 P.711 Primary or essential
hypertension – 90% people suffer, in
which no underlying cause has been
identified, can be the following factors:
Diet, obesity, age, race, heredity,
stress, smoking
 Primary hypertension cannot be cured,
but can be controlled by …….
 Secondary hypertension – which
accounts for 10% of cases, is due to
identifiable disorders, such as excessive
renin secretion, arteriosclerosis etc.
 Hypotension or low blood pressure –
systolic pressure below 100 mmHg
 Orthostatic hypotension – low blood
pressure and dizziness when rise
suddenly from a reclining or sitting
position, in elderly people
 Chronic hypotension – poor nutrition
 P.712 Velocity of Blood Flow –
velocity is inversely related to the cross-
sectional area of the blood vessels
 P.712 Figure 19.14
 It is fastest in the aorta and other large
arteries, slowest in the capillaries, and then
picks up speed again in the veins
 Slow capillary flow is beneficial because it
allows adequate time for exchange between
the blood and tissue cells
 Autoregulation –is the automatic
adjustment of blood flow to each tissue
Capillary Dynamics
 P.716 O2, CO2 and most nutrients, and
metabolic wastes pass between the
blood and interstitial fluid by diffusion
 Fluid movements – two dynamic and
opposing forces – hydrostatic and
colloid osmotic pressures
 P.719 Figure 19.17
 Hydrostatic pressure (HP) – is the
force exerted by a fluid pressure
against a wall
 Capillary hydrostatic pressure
(HPc)
 P.718 Interstitial fluid hydrostatic
pressure (HPif)
 P.718 Colloid osmotic pressure (OP)
– the force opposing hydrostatic
pressure, large nondiffusible molecules,
such as plasma proteins, that are
prevented from moving through the
capillary membrane
 Capillary Colloid osmotic pressure
(OPc), also called oncotic pressure
 Colloid osmotic pressure (OPif) –
 NFP = (HPc – HPif) – (OPc – OPif)
 Circulatory shock – extreme form of
hypotension
 The most common form of shock is
hypovolemic shock, which results
large-scale loss of blood, severe
vomitting, diarrhoea, extreme burns
 Vascular shock – blood volume is normal
and constant, but there is poor circulation
caused extreme vasodilation

 Cardiogenic shock – or pump failure,

occurs when the heart is so inefficient that it
cannot sustain adequate circulation, such as
myocardial infarction (MI)
 P.722 Pulmonary circulation –
 P.723 Systemic circulation –
 P.742 Hepatic portal system –
carries nutrient rich blood from the
digestive organs to the liver
 P.750 Aneurysm – a balloon-like
outpocketing of an artery wall that
places the artery at risk for rupture;
chronic hypertension or arteriosclerosis

 Angiogram – diagnostic technique

involving the infusion of a radiopaque
substance into the circulation for X-ray
examination of specific blood vessels.
The major technique for diagnosing
 coronary artery occlusion and risk of a
heart attack
 Diuretic – a chemical that promotes
urine formation
 Phlebitis – inflammation of a vein
accompanied by painful throbbing
 Phlebotomy – a venous incision made
for withdrawing blood