Chapter 20- Blood Vessels Flashcards
Three principal categories of blood vessels
arteries, veins, capillaries
Walls of arteries and veins have three layers
tunica interna, tunica media, tunica externa
Tunica interna
Lines the blood vessel and is exposed to blood
Endothelium
- Simple squamous epithelium
- Selectively permeable barrier
- Secretes chemicals that stimulate dilation or constriction
- Normally repels blood cells and platelets to prevent clotting
- When tissue around vessel is inflamed, endothelial cells produce
cell-adhesion molecules - Causes leukocytes to adhere to surface and congregate in tissues
where their defensive actions are needed
Tunica media
- Middle layer
- Consists of smooth muscle, collagen, and elastic tissue
- Strengthens vessels and prevents blood pressure from
rupturing them - Contraction of muscle controls blood vessel diameter
- This layer is more prominent in arteries compared with
veins in general
Tunica externa (tunica adventitia)
- Outermost layer
- Consists of loose connective tissue that often merges with
that of neighboring blood vessels, nerves, or other organs - Anchors the vessel and provides passage for small
nerves, lymphatic vessels - Vasa vasorum: small vessels that supply blood to outer
part of the larger vessels
Conducting (elastic or large) arteries
- Biggest arteries
- Examples: aorta, common carotid, subclavian, pulmonary trunk,
and common iliac arteries - Internal elastic lamina at the border between interna and media
- External elastic lamina at the border between media and externa
- Expand during systole, recoil during diastole
- Expansion takes pressure off smaller downstream vessels
- Recoil maintains pressure during relaxation, keeps blood flowing
Distributing (muscular or medium) arteries
- Distribute blood to specific organs
- Examples: brachial, femoral, renal, and splenic arteries
- Smooth muscle layers constitute three-fourths of wall thickness
Resistance (small) arteries
- Thicker tunica media in proportion to their lumen than
large arteries and very little tunica externa - Arterioles: smallest of the resistance arteries
- 200 μm diameter; only 1-3 layers of smooth muscle
- Control amount of blood to various organs
Metarterioles (thoroughfare channels)
- Short vessels that link arterioles directly to venules in
some places (for example, in mesenteries) - Provide shortcuts allowing blood to bypass capillary beds
Aneurysm
- weak point in artery or heart wall
- Forms a thin-walled, bulging sac that pulsates
with each heartbeat and may rupture at any
time
Dissecting aneurysm
blood accumulates between tunics of artery and separates them, usually because of degeneration of the tunica media
Most common sites for aneurysm
abdominal aorta, renal arteries, and arterial circle at base of brain
symptoms and cause of aneurysm
- Can cause pain by putting pressure on other
structures - Can rupture causing hemorrhage
- Result from congenital weakness of blood
vessels, trauma, or bacterial infections - Most common cause is atherosclerosis and
hypertension
Carotid sinuses: baroreceptors
In walls of internal carotid artery, monitor blood pressure, allow for baroreflex, innervation is glossopharyngeal n (CN IX
Carotid bodies: chemoreceptors
- Oval bodies near branch of common carotids
- Monitor blood chemistry, CNIX to brainstem respiratory centers; adjust respiratory rate to stabilize pH, CO2, and O2
Aortic bodies: chemoreceptors
One to three bodies in walls of aortic arch, same structure and function as carotid bodies, but innervation is by vagus n.
Capillaries
Where gasses, nutrients, wastes, and hormones pass
between the blood and tissue fluid
* The “business end” of the cardiovascular system
* Composed of endothelium and basal lamina
* Absent or scarce in tendons, ligaments, epithelia, cornea, and lens of the eye
* Three capillary types distinguished by permeability
Three capillary types distinguished by permeability
- Continuous capillaries
- Fenestrated capillaries
- Sinusoids
Continuous capillaries
- Occur in most tissues
- Endothelial cells have tight
junctions - Form a continuous tube with
intercellular clefts - Allow passage of solutes such as
glucose - Pericytes wrap around the
capillaries and contain the same
contractile protein as muscle - Contract and regulate blood flow
Fenestrated Capillary
- Organs that require rapid absorption or filtration - Examples: kidneys, small intestine
- Endothelial cells riddled with holes called filtration pores (fenestrations)
- Spanned by very thin glycoprotein layer
- Allow passage of only small molecules
- Proteins and larger particles stay in bloodstream
Sinusoids
- Found in liver, bone marrow,
spleen - Irregular blood-filled spaces with
large fenestrations - Allow proteins (albumin), clotting
factors, and new blood cells to
enter the circulation
Veins
- Thin-walled and flaccid
- Collapse when empty, expand easily
- Greater capacity for blood containment than arteries
- At rest, about 64% of blood is in veins, 15% in arteries
- Have steady blood flow (unlike pulses in arteries)
- Have valves to prevent back flow (except in head and
most of neck region) – formed from tunica interna - Subjected to relatively low blood pressure
Postcapillary venules
- Smallest veins (10 to 20 mm diameter)
- Even more porous than capillaries
- Also exchange fluid with surrounding tissues
- Tunica interna with only a few fibroblasts around it
- No muscle
- Leukocytes (WBCs) leave bloodstream through venule
walls
Varicose Vein
Standing for long periods promotes blood pooling in the lower limbs and stretches the veins, especially
superficial ones
As veins distend more their walls weaken and become
varicose veins with irregular dilations and twisted
pathways
Simplest and most common route for blood
Heart → arteries → arterioles → capillaries → venules → veins (one capillary bed)
Portal system blood flow
- Blood flows through two consecutive capillary networks before
returning to heart - Examples: Between hypothalamus and anterior pituitary; in kidneys; between
intestines to liver
Anastomosis blood flow
- Convergence between two vessels other than capillaries
-Arteriovenous anastomosis (shunt) - Artery flows directly into vein, bypassing capillaries
Venous anastomosis (most common)
Arterial anastomosis (two arteries merge, collateral route of blood supply
Blood pressure
-Force that blood exerts against a vessel wall
-Measured at brachial artery using sphygmomanometer
-A close approximation of pressure at exit of left ventricle
Two pressures are recorded for BP
- Systolic pressure
- Peak arterial BP taken during ventricular contraction (ventricular systole)
- Diastolic pressure
- Minimum arterial BP taken during ventricular relaxation
(diastole) between heart beats
Pulse pressure
- Difference between systolic and diastolic pressure
- Important measure of driving force on circulation and of stress exerted on small arteries by pressure surges generated by the heart