Lecture 12 Flashcards
Describe the adult circulation
It is a circulatory system in series so there is blood from the right atrium going through the pulmonary circulation through the lungs, back to the left side of the heart and then out into the systemic circulation, going around into the tissues and then back to the right side of the heart
Describe the foetal circulation
You have the placenta which is your nutrient supply, your lungs, and so that is an additional part of the circulatory network in the foetus.
Your lungs are also not functional because you are in a liquid environment so you don’t need circulation to the lungs.
But then when you are born, you have to be able to switch to using it.
This occurs through a series of shunts through the circulatory system that can redirect flow where it needs to go
There are two different sides of the placenta. What are these called?
the maternal side and the foetal side
What is located on the maternal side of the placenta?
There is the uterine artery which branches into the endometrium
What does the uterine artery deliver?
oxygenated blood to the uterus
What is inside the endometrium?
There is pools of maternal blood with leaky capillaries and then it goes from there into the uterine veins back into the maternal circulation
What is located on the foetal side of the placenta?
There are two umbilical arteries that are coming from the foetus towards the mother.
Are umbilical arteries carrying oxygenated or deoxygenated blood?
It is deoxygenated
Where is the deoxygenated blood heading in the umbilical arteries?
towards the placenta to get ride of CO2 and to pick up O2
Where is the umbilical vein located? Where does it travel? What sort of blood does it carry?
This is inside the placenta, traveling back to the foetal part now with oxygenated blood
What forms into the umbilical cord?
the umbilical arteries and the umbilical veins
Where does the umbilical cord travel?
from the placenta to the foetus
The placenta brings the foetal circulation and the maternal circulation in close proximity. Do they mix?
no
If maternal and foetal blood don’t mix, how does gas exchange occur?
There are chorionic villi which form in a dense network that sits in the pool of maternal blood. This is where the exchange occurs (bathing in maternal blood) but there is a barrier between the two types of blood
What does the chorionic villi act as?
- the intestines (so the baby can get nutrients)
- the kidney (removing waste products)
- as the lungs (removal of CO2 and uptake of O2)
Does the placenta have a high blood flow? Why?
yes because it is acting as the lungs for the foetus
Does the placenta on the foetal side have high or low resistance? Why?
very low resistance to allow a lot of foetal blood to be able to pass through the placenta without restriction
In utero, we have lungs that are ____________ because the __________ are collapsed because we are not in an _______ environment
non-functional
airways
air
Because there is no movement of gas in the lungs in utero, we can say that there is ________ _______ so the pulmonary lungs respond by ________
utero hypoxia
vasoconstriction
Vasoconstriction in the pulmonary lungs in utero increases the _________ to flow and therefore there is increased ________ in the pulmonary vasculature
resistance
pressure
Are we sending blood through the lungs in utero? Why or why not?
no because there is no oxygenation going to be occurring
The pulmonary blood flow in the uterus makes up what percentage of cardiac output?
10%
The physiology of the hypoxic vasoconstriction allows the lungs and the pulmonary circulation to be _________-
bipassed
What are the two routes that bypass the lungs?
- foramen ovale
- ductus arteriosus
What is the foramen ovale bypass?
It is a hole in the septal wall between the left and right atrium.