Circulatory System Flashcards
1
Q
The blood serves several important functions. What are they?
A
- carries substances to cells (O2, nutrients, hormones)
- carries substances away from cells (CO2, wastes)
- regulates the acid-base balance in the body through the use of buffers
- regulates body temperature by absorbing heat internally and releasing it peripherally (i.e., in the skin)
- helps defend against disease (WBCs, antibodies)
2
Q
What are the three basic layers of the blood cells?
A
- tunica externa – connective tissue
- tunica media – smooth muscle & elastic connective tissue
- tunica interna – epithelial tissue
3
Q
What kind of cells is the tunica media made of?
A
- smooth muscle
- elastic connective tissue
4
Q
What is the elastic connective tissue of the tunica media. important?
A
- allows the blood vessel to stretch and recoil as the pressure within it fluctuates
5
Q
What is the smooth muscle of the tunica media important?
A
- regulates the diameter of the blood vessel (primarily controlled by the ANS)
6
Q
What is the lumen?
A
- is the inside space of a tubular structure, such as an artery
7
Q
What are the five types of blood vessels?
A
- arteries
- arterioles
- capillaries
- venules
- veins
8
Q
Describe the purpose and structure of arteries.
A
- carry blood away from the heart
- have relatively thick walls which allows for an increased ability to stretch with each heartbeat
9
Q
What are elastic arteries?
A
- largest arteries
- consists of the aorta and the major branches
- tunica media is predominantly elastic connective tissue
10
Q
Why are the elastic fibres in elastic arteries important?
A
- recoil of these elastic fibres helps propel blood away from the heart
11
Q
What are muscular arteries?
A
- medium-sized arteries
- tunica media is predominantly smooth muscle
12
Q
Why is smooth muscle important in muscular arteries?
A
- abundance of smooth muscle allows for more control of blood flow
13
Q
What are arterioles?
A
- “little arteries”
- small blood vessels that connect arteries to capillaries
14
Q
What type of cells are the tunica media in arterioles made up of and why?
A
- contains lots of smooth muscle, which is used to tightly regulate the
amount of blood entering capillaries
15
Q
What are capillaries?
A
- very small, highly-branched blood vessels that form networks among the individual cells of the body
- do not contain a tunica externa or tunica media
16
Q
Why are the walls of capillaries so thin?
A
- allow the exchange of substances between the blood and surrounding cells
17
Q
What are venules?
A
- “little veins”
- small blood vessels emerging from capillaries that start the route back to the heart
18
Q
What do veins do?
A
- carry blood to the heart
- have relatively thin walls
- would essentially collapse if they were not filled with blood
19
Q
What mechanisms assists the flow of blood through the veins?
A
- pumping action of the heart
- valves that prevent the back flow of blood
- “skeletal muscle pump”
- “respiratory pump”
20
Q
What is skeletal muscle pump?
A
- contraction of skeletal muscles compresses the veins of the upper and lower limbs
21
Q
What is respiratory pump?
A
- fluctuations in abdominal cavity pressure during respiration compresses abdominal veins
22
Q
What is deep vein thrombosis (DVT)?
A
- clot (thrombus) may form in a deep vein (most common in the lower limbs)
23
Q
What are the risk factors of deep vein thrombosis?
A
- trauma, long periods of immobilization (e.g., flights, casts), certain drugs (e.g., HRT, oral contraceptives)
24
Q
What are some symptoms of DVT (if present)?
A
- swelling/warmth, local pain/tenderness, distension of superficial veins
25
What is a pulmonary embolism (PE)?
- a clot can detach (embolus) and get trapped within blood vessels
26
What are some symptoms of PE?
- chest pain, shortness of breath, cyanosis (bluish cast to the skin and mucous membranes)
- can affect both sides of the heart, which can lead to cardiac arrest and death
27
Are there more veins or arteries?
- veins greatly outnumber arteries
28
What is systolic blood pressure?
- pressure on arterial walls during ventricular contraction
29
What is diastolic blood pressure?
- pressure on arterial walls during ventricular relaxation
30
What is "mmHg"?
- the pressure exerted by 1mm of mercury
31
What controls the feedback systems of cardiovascular regulation?
- controlled by the cardiovascular (CV) centre in the medulla oblongata
- receives input from various sources and relays output signals to the heart and blood vessels via the ANS
32
Where does the input to the cardiovascular center (brain) come from?
- from higher brain centers
- proprioceptors (joint movements)
- baroreceptors (blood pressure)
- chemoreceptors (blood acidity)
33
Where does the output from the cardiovascular center (brain) go?
- heart (decreased and decrease HR, contractility)
| - blood vessels (vasoconstriction)
34
Which nerves aid in the output of the cardiovascular center (brain)
- vagus nerve (parasympathetic)
- cardiac accelerator nerves (sympathetic)
- vasomotor nerves (sympathetic)
35
What is systemic circulation?
- system of blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood from the heart to the majority of the body and return deoxygenated blood to the heart
- blood LOSES oxygen
36
What is pulmonary circulation?
- system of blood vessels that carry deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs and return oxygenated blood to the heart
- blood GAINS oxygen
37
What is the largest artery in the body?
- the aorta
38
What are the four sections of the arteries of systemic circulation?
- arch of the aorta (head, neck, upper limbs)
- thoracic aorta
- abdominal aorta
- ascending aorta (heart)
39
What are the branches of the ascending aorta?
- right coronary, left coronary
40
What are the branches of the arch of the aorta (chest)?
- brachiocephalic trunk
- right subclavian
- right common carotid
- left common carotid
- left subclavian
41
What are the branches of the arch of the aorta (head)?
- extern carotid artery
- internal carotid artery
- vertebral artery
42
Explain the vertebral arteries in the skull.
- vertebral arteries join inside the cranium to form the basilar artery
- has branches that join with the internal carotid arteries
- ring of communicating arteries is called the cerebral arterial circle
43
What are the branches subclavian (upper limb)?
- axillary artery
- brachial artery
- radial artery
- ulnar artery
44
What are the two branch of the thoracic artery?
- visceral arteries (organs but not heart)
| - parietal arteries (bones and muscles)
45
What do the pulmonary arteries do?
- move deoxygenated blood to the alveoli (a)
46
What do the pulmonary veins do?
- move oxygenated blood from the alveoli (v)
47
What do the bronchial arteries do?
- move oxygenated blood to the lung tissue (a)
48
What do the bronchial veins do?
- move deoxygenated blood from the lung tissue
49
What are the branches of the abdominal aorta - unpaired visceral arteries?
- celiac trunk
- superior mesenteric artery
- inferior mesenteric artery
50
The celiac trunk provides blood to which organs?
- stomach, small intestine, liver, pancreas, spleen
51
The superior mesenteric artery provides blood to which organs?
- small and large intestine
52
The inferior mesenteric artery provides blood to which organs?
- large intestine
53
What are the branches of the abdominal aorta - paired visceral arteries?
- suprarenal artery
- renal artery
- gonadal artery
54
The suprarenal artery provides blood to which organs?
- adrenal glands
55
The renal artery provides blood to which organs?
- kidneys
56
The gonadal artery provides blood to which organs?
- gonads (ovaries, testes)
57
What are the paired terminal branches?
- common iliac artery
- internal iliac artery (pelvic cavity, external genitals)
- external iliac artery
58
What are the several branches of the external iliac artery?
- femoral artery
- popliteal artery
- fibular artery (lateral)
- anterior tibial artery
- posterior tibial artery
59
What are the two types of veins?
- superficial and deep veins
60
Where are superficial veins located?
- the subcutaneous tissue
61
Where are deep veins located?
- accompany arteries
62
What are the three veins that drain into the right atrium?
- coronary sinus
- superior vena cava
- inferior vena cava
63
Which veins drain into the superior vena cava?
- left and right brachiocephalic
| - azygos vein
64
What are the veins of the head and neck (branch off the brachiocephalic vein)?
- external jugular vein (external skull and structures)
- right vertebral vein (neck)
- right axillary
- right internal jugular (brain)
65
What do the dural sinuses do?
- collect venous blood from the brain and merge to form the internal jugular veins at the jugular foramina
66
What are the deep veins of the upper limbs?
- axillary vein
- brachial vein
- radial vein
- ulnar vein
67
What are the superficial veins of the upper limbs?
- cephalic vein (lateral portion)
| - basilic vein (medial)
68
What are the veins of the thorax?
- azygos vein
- accessory hemiazygos vein
- hemiazygos vein
69
What are the veins of the abdomen and pelvis?
- hepatics
- suprarenal veins
- renal veins
- gonadal veins
- external iliac veins
- internal iliac veins
70
Which veins are part of hepatic portal circulation?
- splenic vein
- superior mesenteric vein
- inferior mesenteric vein
71
Does the GI tract drain directly into the inferior vena cava?
- no
72
Explain the portal system of veins.
- veins drains blood from its organs (and the spleen)
| into the liver
73
Why do the veins drain into the liver?
- allows the liver first access to the nutrients absorbed from the gut and allows
it to detoxify this blood before it joins the general circulation via the hepatic veins
74
What are the deep veins of the lower limbs?
- femoral vein
- popliteal vein
- anterior tibial vein
- posterior tibial vein
75
What are the superficial veins of the lower limbs?
- small and great saphenous vein
76
What are the components of the lymphatic system?
- lymphatic vessels
- organs (and other structures) that contain lymphatic tissue
- red bone marrow
77
What are the functions of the lymphatic system?
- transports interstitial fluid and plasma proteins to the blood (lymphatic vessels)
- transports dietary lipids from the GI tract to the blood (lymphatic vessels)
- helps defend against disease through the production, maturation, and proliferation of lymphocytes (lymphatic tissue & red bone marrow)
78
Where are lymphatic vessels located?
- between capillaries and their surrounding cells is a small fluid-filled space
79
How are substances exchanged between capillaries and cells?
- interstitial fluid
80
What helps the movement of lymph?
- assisted by valves and “pumps” (e.g., skeletal muscle, respiratory)
81
Smaller lymph vessels unite to form...
- lymph trunks, which unite to form lymphatic ducts
82
What are the two lymphatic ducts named?
- thoracic (left) duct
| - right lymphatic duct
83
The thoracic duct receives lymph from where?
- the entire let side of the body and the lower portion of the right side of the body
84
The right lymphatic duct receives lymph from where?
- upper portion of the right side of the body
85
Where does the thoracic duct drain lymph?
- junction of the left internal jugular vein and left subclavian vein (i.e., where the left brachiocephalic vein is formed)
86
Where does the right lymphatic duct drain?
- junction of the right internal jugular vein and right subclavian vein (i.e., where the right brachiocephalic vein is formed)
87
What do the lymph nodes do?
- remove foreign substances through filtering lymph, phagocytosis, and immune reaction
- small bean-shaped structures that are scattered along lymphatic vessels throughout the body
88
Discuss red bone marrows purpose in the lymphatic system.
- produces most of the stem cells that eventually form the various types of blood cells
89
Discuss lymphocytes purpose in the lymphatic system.
- a type of white blood cell
| - migrate to specific locations in the body that contain a specialized form of connective tissue called lymphatic tissue
90
What are the primary lymphatic organs and what do they do?
- convert stem cells into mature blood cells
- red bone marrow – gives rise to mature B-lymphocytes and immature T-lymphocytes
- thymus – gives rise to mature T-lymphocytes
91
What are the secondary lymphatic organs and what do they do?
- secondary lymphatic organs
- where lymphocytes get “activated”
- lymph nodes
- spleen
92
Where is the thymus located?
- in the superior mediastinum (thoracic cavity)
93
How can lymph nodes become enlarged?
- an active infection – soft, movable, tender
| - an accumulation of cancer cells – firm, fixed, non-tender
94
What is the largest mass of lymphatic tissue in the body?
- the spleen
95
Where is the spleen located?
- left upper quadrant of the abdominal cavity
96
What is the purpose of the spleen?
- lymphocyte-activating functions
| - the spleen also assists in the removal and destruction old blood cells
