Blood Vessels and Hemodynamics Flashcards
List the way blood is transported from and to the heart (in order)
arteries»_space; arterioles»_space; capillaries»_space; venules»_space; veins
Arteries carry blood _____ the heart and veins carry blood ____ the heart
arteries = away from
veins = towards
What is the function of capillaries?
- Transport blood with nutrients and oxygen to cells in organs and systems
- transport blood with waste and CO2 to collection/expulsion sites
- Perform the exchange of gases between blood and interstitial fluid
What is the difference in structure between veins and arteries?
- veins don’t have elastic membranes like arteries
- veins have valves unlike arteries
What is a capillary’s structure like?
- basement membrane
- endothelial cells
What does the tunica intima consist of in arteries?
- endothelium
- subendothelial layer
- internal elastic membrane
what does the tunica intima consist of in veins?
- endothelium
- subendothelial layer
what does the tunica media consist of in arteries?
- smooth muscle and elastic fibres
- external elastic membrane
what does the tunica media consist of in veins?
- smooth muscle and elastic fibres
what does the tunica externa consist of in arteries?
- collagen fibers
- vasa vasorum
what does the tunica externa consist of in veins?
- collagen fibers
- vasa vasorum
What are the 3 types of arteries and how are they unique?
- elastic, conducting, arteries: thick walls, large diameters of >1cm, a lot of elastic fibers
- muscular, distributing, arteries: more smooth muscle rather than elastin, medium size of 0.3mm-1cm, distant from elastic arteries
- arterioles (aka. resistance vessels): 10 micrometres - 0.3 mm, tunica media of mostly smooth muscle which is only 1 layer in smaller arterioles
what are the differences in function in the 3 different arteries?
- elastic arteries: smooth pressure fluctuations and recoil to help maintain blood pressure or flow
- muscular arteries: deliver blood to specific organs
- arterioles: determine which capillary beds flushed min by min, create resistance to blood flow through the alteration of diameter
What are the characteristics of capillaries?
- microscopic
- thin tunica intima as walls
- 1mm long, and 8-10 micrometre diameter of the luman
- contain pericytes
What is a pericyte?
- stabilize capillary walls
- control permeability of the capillary’s membrane
What are the 3 types of capillaries?
continuous, fenestrated and sinusoidal
What differentiates the 3 types of capillaries?
Continuous capillaries: least permeable, most common
In muscles and the skin: they have endothelial cells linked by tight junctions => uninterrupted lining
In the CNS: they contain intercellular clefts that allow for limited fluid and small solute passage
Fenestrated capillaries: Endothelial cells with pores or fenestrations meaning they have higher permeability
small intestine, endocrine organs and
kidneys
Sinusoidal capillaries: modified and leaky, they have large and irregular lumens which are usually porous or fenestrated, a few tight junctions and large intercellular clefts for proteins and RBCs to pass through
Define microcirculation
Flow of blood through arterioles to venules through a capillary bed
How is flow through a capillary bed regulated?
By the diameter of the arteriole
What is a terminal arteriole?
It’s a branch of an arteriole that further divides into 10-20 smaller “exchange vessels” or true capillaries for gas exchange, forming a capillary bed
What are further features (additional to true capillaries, terminal arterioles, arterioles and veins) that belong to capillary beds?
Precapillary sphincters, metarterioles (kind of like a main branch of the arteriole past the terminus of division). thoroughfare channels (main branch of a venule)
What is a venule?
- Formed in areas where capillary beds unite
- post capillary venules have only endothelium and pericytes, whereas some larger ones have sparse tunica media and thin tunica externa
What is a vein?
- Where venules converge
- they have a tunica externa, media, and intima, but with thinner walls and larger lumens than arteries
- they have a lesser amount of muscle in the tunica media and minimal elastin
- the tunica externa is its thickest layer
What is the capacitance vessel or blood reservoir?
When up to 65% of blood is located in the veins at any one time
What is the difference in the lumen of arteries vs veins?
The lumen of arteries is smaller and rounded (oval) than that of veins, which have larger, more square yet crescent-shaped lumens
What is the difference in thickness and lumen diameter between the 3 arteries, 2 veins, and capillaries?
Elastic arteries are the largest with a diameter of 1.5 cm whereas the comparable vein (a vein not a venule) is 5 mm. The thickest arteries are the muscular and elastic, both with 1 mm of thickness, whereas veins have 0.5 mm. The smallest artery and vein have respective diameters of 37 and 20 microm, with thicknesses of 6 and 1 microm. Capillaries are by far the smallest, averaging a lumen diameter of 9 microm and 0.5 microm in thickness
How is blood flow measured?
ml/min
What is cardiac output?
The amount of blood being pumped out by the ventricles per min
What is blood flow?
- Essentially the measure of cardiac output for the entirety of the vascular system
- it’s fairly constant at rest
- varies through individual organs
How is blood flow regulated?
Independently, through many tissues and organs
Define blood pressure
Force per unit area exerted on the wall of a blood vessel by blood within
How is blood pressure measured?
It’s measured as a systemic arterial BP in large arteries near the heart such as the aorta
What unit is used to measure blood pressure?
mmHg
What keeps blood pressure moving?
A pressure gradient from high to lower pressure areas (arteries have the highest, veins have the lower which is why they require valves to keep flood from flowing backwards)
What is flow and why does it occur?
Flow is whether or not blood is moving through the blood vessels, it’s proportional to the change in pressure
What is resistance?
Resistance is the major determinant of blood flow because a decrease in blood vessel radius, increases resistance to the 4th power