Physiology of Circulation Flashcards
Layers of blood vessel wall
Adventitia - connective tissue and nerve fibres
Media - smooth muscle
Intima - Bm, endothelium, connective tissue
Characteristics of aortic wall
Characteristics of vena cava wall
Elastic and fibrous
Smooth muscle and fibrous
As well as delivery of blood what are the functions of the following blood vessels:
Aorta
Arteries
Arterioles
Capillaries
Venules
Veins
Aorta - storage of energy to maintain delivery in diastole and dampening of pulse pressure
Arteries - further dampening
Arterioles - control of pressure and distribution to capillary beds
Capillaries - exchange
Venules - collection
Veins - storage of blood, portal circulations
What is the function of wall thickness in blood vessels
Thick - Tensile strength to allow withstanding of pressure
Thin - exchange in capillaries
Function of elastic component in blood vessel walls
Smoothing of pulsetations and storage of energy to maintain flow in diastole
Function of smooth muscles in blood vessels
Control of vessel diameter
Difference between flow and flow velocity
Flow is volume of blood flowing per unit time (L/min)
Flow velocity is how fast fluid is moving at any given point (cm/s)
How does flow velocity vary over the diameter of a blood vessel in laminar flow
Faster in centre
What equation links flow and flow velocity
Implication to the differing stages of blood vessels (arteries, Arterioles capillaries etc)
Q=vA
Flow = velocity x area
As area enlarges and flow remains constant velocity falls
Flow velocity in aorta compared to capillaries, cross sectional area of both
Aorta 120cm/s. 4.5cm2
Capillaries 0-1cm/s. 4500cm2
Issue with turbulent flow and blood vessel constriction
High flow velocity and turbulent flow produce shear forces that can pull endothelium away from vessel wall and dislodge plaques causing thrombi and emboli
How can ohms law be analogous to cardiac function
V = I x R
MAP-CVP = CO x SVR
What are the sources of energy that drive blood flow?
Cardiac contraction
Elastic recoil of great vessels
Skeletal muscle contraction
Negative interthoracic pressure
Forces opposing blood flow through vessels
Friction (between fluid and vessel walls and between fluid layers), determined by vessel size and viscosity
Conversion of pump work into stored energy (eg into elasticity of deistended vessel walls or by gravity - depends of the pulsetyle nature of circulation
What law governs blood flow through a single vessel
Hagen poiseuille
Q = Pi(🔼P)r^4 / 8nL
Flow = Pi (pressure gradient) radius to power 4 / 8 viscosity length
Why does reality differ from Hagen poiseuille law
Blood vessels are not uniform in cross section
Blood vessel walls are elastic
Pressure gradients are not constant but pulsatilla
Blood behaves differently from Newtonian fluid because of the cellular component so viscosity is not the sole determinant of flow properties.
How does blood differ in viscosity from a Newtonian fluid
Cells - as haematocrit increases apparent viscosity increases more
Blood vessel diameter - as diameter falls apparent viscoicty of blood decreases as the cells stream in the centre of the vessel effectively reducing the hct
Flow velocity - apparent viscosity decreases at higher flow speeds due to less cell adherence to each other and vessel walls
Functions of the arterial system
Deliver blood to capillary beds
Convert high pressure pulsatilla blood flow into low pressure steady flow
What is the term for the effect of the arterial system on flow (converting from high pressure pulsetyle to low pressure constant
Hydraulic filtering or windkessel
Normal values for stroke volume and flow velocity
Peak velocity
Stroke volume 70-90ml
Flow velocity 70cm/s
Peak velocity 120cm/s
How do systolic pressures change through the arterial system
Why?
120 in aorta
increase in the initial arteries Distally (up to 40 higher in feet) but then decrease into the arteriolar to around 30 ready to enter capillaries
Initial increase due to propagation of pressure wave from reflection and resonance.
What is compliance of the arterial system
Change in arterial blood volume produced by unit change of arterial blood pressure
Do stiff arteries have high or low compliance
Low
How does arterial compliance change with age
Falls
Also compliance curve moves from linear relationship to curve (as pressure increases it has less effect on volume)
Factors that effect blood pressure
SVR
Blood volume
Stroke volume
Arterial compliance
Duration of systole
What determines diastolic pressure?
Systolic pressure
Arterial compliance
SVR
Duration
How does SVR effect SBP and DBP
Produces non linear pressure volume curve similar to ageing - ie higher pressures needed for same volume
Slows rate of diastolic blood pressure fall
Effect of arterial compliance on sbp and dbp
Much greater effect on sbp because of the curve of the pressure volume curve (linear relationship of pressure at lower volumes, then increasing pressures needed per unit volume at higher volumes)
Functions of the venous system
Collection and return of blood from capillary beds to heart
Reservoir of blood volume
Provision of preload
Rough venous pressures through the venous system
15-20 at end of capillary bed in venuoles
10-15 in small veins
5-6 in large extrathoracic veins
What are the characteristics of venous flow and influences
In small veins continuous
In great veins fluctuate with a c and v waves due to cardiac contraction and respiration
What mechanisms assist venous return to the heart
Gravity
Thoracic pump
Muscle pumps
Unidirectional valves
What is the major determinant of venous pressure
Gravity
Why is the venous pressure in the foot not around 115mmHg (0.77mmHg for every cm of height)
What is it in an erect individual? What about when walking
Presence of valves, venous obstruction etc.
usually around 80
Reduces to 30 when walking due to muscle pump
What is the physiology behind JVP
When erect pressure in the IJV is roughly atmospheric so it sits collapsed. The height of collapse is representative of RA pressures
What is venous pressure in the brain when erect
Clinical implications
Can be subatmospheric - around -20mmHg
Because skull is rigid container they don’t collapse but stay held open by surrounding tissues
Susceptible to air embolism if punctured or cannula open to air.
What volume of air in venous circulation would be problemous to cardiac output
What volume of air in arterial circulation would be problems to end organs esp brain
> 10ml
1-2ml
How does the thoracic pump work?
How is heart rate effected?
Inspiration interpleural pressure drops from -2 to -6mmHg
This transmits to central veins reducing CVP, increasing gradient with abdominal veins and thus augmenting venous return.
Increased gradient further still by flattening diaphragm increasing abdominal pressure
Blood then pools in pulmonary circulation resulting in small decrease in arterial pressure and thus increase in heart rate.
What can excentuate the changes of the thoracic pump?
Name?
Forced inspiration against closed glottis (muller manoeuvre)
Surface area of capillary network
6000m2
How is blood fed into capillary network
Arterioles to metarterioles which give rise to smooth muscle precapiliary sphincters gating the entry to capillaries
What is the innervation of arterioles, metarterioles and precapiliary sphincters
Arterioles - ANS
Metarterioles and precapiliary sphincters - ? Local/humoral agents
What is the state of most capillary beds at rest, how does blood flow?
What homeostatic function is this vital for?
Most are collapsed
Blood shunts past in anastomoses between arterioles and venules
Temp regulation
Size of capillaries?
Size of RBC
How much of the total blood volume do they hold
5micrometers widening to 9 micrometers at venous end
RBC 7micrometers
Hold 6% of circulating volume
What are the cells that support capillaries? What do they do
Pericytes
Release chemicals to control permeability
Secrete basement membrane
On which side of the capillary enothelial cells is the basement membrane
Outside
How do objects diffuse out of capillaries based on their properties
Small molecules <8nm can diffuse out of intracellular junctions/pores
Large molecules may cross cell cytoplasm in vesicles
Fat soluble molecules, oxygen, water and Co2 pass directly through cells
What adaptation do capillaries have in endocrine glands, renal glomeruli and intestinal villi that permits secretion filtration and absorption
Rough size
Fenestrations 20-100nm
What do liver and spleen capillary sinusoids contain that distinguishes them from other capillaries
Rough size
Implications
Discontinuous epithelium with gaps >1000nm
Albumin can diffuse out much more easily
Where does diffusion occur from capillaries
Endothelial defects including pores, intracellular junctions and fenestrations
What is filtration in capillaries
The movement of water and small solutes across the endothelium under influence of osmotic and hydrostatic gradients
How do large lipid insoluble molecules travel across the capillary wall
Pinocytosis (combined Endocytosis and exocytosis)
What is diffusion?
The movement of a substance down its concentration gradient
What determines rate of diffusion in or out of a capillary
Capillary permeability, capillary surface area, concentration gradient, capillary wall thickness
What factors contribute to capillary permeability for a specific substance
Substance related - size, charge, lipid solubility
Capillary related - number of gaps
Other - interactions between other solutes
What limits the diffusion of easily diffusible molecules such as gases across a capillary bed? Why?
Flow
Easy diffusion so reach equilibrium close to proximal end thus faster flow needed to remove more from distal end.
What is the term for the combination of forces moving fluid in and out of capillaries?
What does it compose and how does it change down the length of a capillary
Starling forces
Hydrostatic and colloid osmotic pressure
Proximal capillary higher hydrostatic pressure pushing fluid out into interstitium
Distal capillary lower hydrostatic pressure and fluid flows back in
What are proximal and distal capillary hydrostatic pressures
What is interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure
What are capillary and interstitial fluid colloid oncotic pressures
33 to 15mmHg
1mmHg (-9 to 9)
25mmHg and 0
How much more fluid is filtered from capillary compared to reabsorbed?
Where does it go?
10%
Lymph
What is the typical volume of lymph drainage per 24 hrs
Other functions of lymph
2-4 litres
Return of leaked proteins
Absorption of particles proteins and high molecular weight molecules in inflamed tissues
Absorption of proteins and fat from metabolism and gastric absorption.
Where does lymph drain back to circulation
Junction of IJ and SC veins
What drives lymph flow
Nearby arterial pulsetation and skeletal muscle contraction with 1 way valves
Causes of tissue oedema
Increased capillary filtration (eg raised venous pressure in heart failure or venous obstruction)
Decreased capillary colloid osmotic pressure (eg hypoalbuminia)
Increased capillary permeability (inflammation)
Decreased lymph drainage (eg obstruction, filiariasis, lymphadenopathy)
Why is intrinsic control of circulation vital, especially in tissues such as heart and brain
Allows maintained blood flow independent of systemic disturbance.
What types of blood vessels are involved in the control of circulation
Resistance vessels - arterioles - changes in tone result in changes in perfusion pressure across vascular bed and effect flow through capillaries and alter vascular resistance
Capacitance vessels - venous system - changes in tone changes intravascular volume
How is muscle arranged in arterioles
Smooth muscle arranged circumferential in the tunica media