ICL 1.2: Pulmonary & Bronchial Circulation Flashcards
what are the 2 types of circulation in the lung?
- pulmonary circulation
2. bronchial circulation (from the systemic circulation!)
how does bronchial circulation works?
it provides blood to the trachea, pulmonary artery, upper respiratory tract from the systemic circulation
it comes from the descending aorta where the bronchial artery arises:
aorta –> bronchial artery –> bronchial capillary –> bronchial vein –> azygous vein –> SVC
why doesn’t the LA get 100% saturated blood from the lungs?
bronchial circulation has a bronchopulmonary vein which allows deoxygenated blood coming out of the bronchial circulation to get mixed with the pulmonary vein which has oxygenated blood from the lungs
so the blood coming from the lungs is 100% oxygenated but because it gets merged with the bronchopulmonary vein carrying deoxygenated blood, the % saturation decreases and is only 98% oxygenated when it reaches the LA
this isn’t important normally but in the cases of hypoxia this can be a huge deal and this “alveolar arterial gradient” is used to measure the degree of hypoxia
what is the pulmonary right-to-left shunt?
the lungs receive about 2% of the CO= 150 mL/minute through the bronchioles
2/3 of that blood, 100 mL, comes back to the pulmonary vein directly
so that’s why the output of the LV is just slightly higher than the RV because of this right to left shunt from the bronchiole circulation
what is the difference between the bronchial and pulmonary circulation?
BRONCHIAL CIRCULATION
1. high pressure, low flow circulation
- gets 2% of CO, so not a lot of blood goes through the bronchial circulation
- supplies blood from bronchi to terminal bronchioles
- arises from the aorta
PULMONARY CIRCULATION
1. low pressure, high flow circulation
- gets 100% of CO, all 5 L of blood go through the pulmonary circulation
- supplies respiratory bronchioles to alveoli
- arises from the heart, the RV
- the ONLY artery that carries deoxygenated blood!
what is the pressure in the pulmonary vs. systemic circulation?
PULMONARY RV = 25/0 PA = 25/8 capillary = 7-9 pulmonary vein = 5 LA = 5
SYSTEMIC LV = 120/0 aorta = 120/80 capillary = 30-45 peripheral vein = 15 RA = 0-2
the pulmonary circulation is a relatively low pressure system
mean pulmonary arterial pressure is 15 and if it’s higher than 25, it’s pulmonary HTN
what is pulmonary circulation?
the pulmonary circulation is defined as extending from the pulmonic valve to the left atrium and consists of the pulmonary outflow tract, the right and left main pulmonary arteries and their lobar branches, the intrapulmonary arteries, the pulmonary arterioles, capillaries, venules, and large pulmonary veins
what is the output of blood flow in the pulmonary circulation?
5 L/min
same as the CO!
what is the pressure difference in the pulmonary circulation vs systemic? how does it work?
pulmonary: PA - LA = (15-5) = 10 mmHg
systemic: (90-3) = 87 mmHg
how does this work? you are able to accommodate the same amount of blood at a lower pressure difference in the pulmonary circulation…the reason the pulmonary circulation works effectively at low pressures is primarily because of the low resistance
arterioles are the major resistance determinants in the cardiac system but with pulmonary circulation, arterioles have NO smooth muscle cells and no resistance! this absence of muscular arterioles provide a mechanism of lower resistance in the lungs
also, many of the lung capillaries remain closed and only open when required so they’re used when you need a mechanism to handle high pressures like pulmonary HTN so you recruit more capillaries to reduce the overall resistance
R = pressure difference/CO
how is the pulmonary circulation effected by gravity?
since pulmonary circulation works on low pressure, it’s more effected by gravity!
if you’re laying down gravity is working from anterior to posterior and has a big effect on lung circulation
usually, if you take one RBC, it takes 5 sec to completely go through the pulmonary circulation and out of this time, less than 1 second is spent in the capillary bed where the gas exchange happens
what is the capillary pressure in the pulmonary capillaries dependent on?
pressure difference = P(PA) - P(LA) = CO*resistance
P(PA) = CO*PVR + P(LA)
so if the CO is high like during exercise, pulmonary pressure will be higher
in the case of COPD or fibrosis or sleep apnea, PVR is increased so the pressure in the pulmonary artery increases
in the case of pulmonary venous HTN, heart failure or valve disease, left atrium pressure will be increased and the pulmonary pressure will be increased
how does pulmonary vascular resistance change as we breath?
every time we breath and change the lung volume, we change the PVR!
when we breath in, air is put into the alveoli which expand and put pressure on the vasculature surrounding the alveolar sac = compression of capillaries = increased PVR –> when this is happening during inspiration, you’re also expanding your chest cavity and the vessels not in contact with the alveoli get more space to dilate and they expand and their resistance decreases!
so during inspiration, extra-alveolar vessels have a decrease in resistance while alveolar vessels increase
which vessels are extra-alveolar?
- arteries
- arterioles
- venules
- veins
what are the components of the total resistance in the lungs?
it’s a combination of the resistance in the alveolar and extra-alveolar capillaries!
when you increase the pressure in the pulmonary artery, what happens to the pulmonary resistance?
P(PA) = CO*PVR + P(LA)
when we increase the pressure in the pulmonary artery, the PVR decreases
this is because there are less smooth muscles in the arterioles and they’re more compliant
also, in the lungs there are lots of capillaries that normally are closed but at increased pulmonary pressure or flow, these extra capillaries are recruited so that the resistance decreases and you can accommodate the increased flow without changing the pressure in the pulmonary artery
what is the formula for PVR? how does PVR effect pulmonary artery pressure?
PVR = length of tube/rˆ4
when you increase the pressure you’re recruiting more capillaries which increases the radius and decreases the PVR
P(PA) = CO*PVR + P(LA)
when you are exercising, the arterial pressure can be maintained by changing the pulmonary resistance! an increase in CO will increase pulmonary artery pressure but your body will try to reduce the resistance to maintain pulmonary artery pressure
if pulmonary vasculature wasn’t as compliant as it is, it would lead to pulmonary HTN very quickly – the ability to modulate PVR helps us keep the pulmonary artery pressure at a low pressure
what metabolic condition helps reduce pulmonary vascular resistance?
- low CO2 = low PaCO2
2. alkalemia