Week 4 Flashcards
Vascular structure of viens
- Lowest pressures
- thin muscled walls
- highly distensible
Vascular structure of arteries
- Highest pressures
- Strong muscular walls
- low flow resistance
Vascular structure of microcirculation
- Arterioles are main site of vascular resistance
- Capillaries and venules are sites of exchange
calculating vascular compliance
change in volume over change in pressure
Vascular compliance in the veins
- Highly compliant
- Small changes in pressure cause large changes in volume
Vascular compliance in arteries
- less compliant than veins
- still respond to increase in pressure with slight increases in volume
Aortic Complience
- High systolic pressure expands the volume of the aorta
- stretching stores potential energy
- aortic walls recoil during diastole, squeezing the blood and helping maintain aortic pressure and blood flow
Aortic Pulse Pressure
- Systolic pressure usually similar to that in left ventricle
- Pulse pressure= SP - DP
- Pulse pressure magnitude determined by stroke volume and arterial compliance (PP proportional to SV/Compliance)
Why is a dicrotic notch observed in pulse pressure
Closure of the aortic valve prevents any possible back flow
Aortic Valve Stenosis definition and effect
- A condition in which the diameter of the aortic valve opening is reduced, which reduces flow into aorta
- Increased resistance = decreased SV = decreased pressure
- Smaller systolic pulse pressure
Aortic Regurgitation definition and effect on pulse pressure
- the aortic valve does not close completely and blood flows back into the ventricle in late systole and diastole
- decrease pressure in diastole due to faster decrease in blood volume
Transmission of pressure pulse through the arteries
- Pressure (and flow) oscillations are transmitted along the arteries
- The pressure decreases progressively in smaller arteries due to VESSEL COMPLIANCE and VASCULAR RESISTANCE
Arterial wall tension
- Def: Force needed to resist the outward push of hydrostatic pressure
- Calculation: T(tension) = Transmural pressure (r/h(wall thickness))
- Vessels with larger radius and/or higher pressures have stronger walls with more smooth muscle and are reinforced with fibrous bands of collagen
- high transmural pressure and radius leads to significant wall tension
Transmural pressure
Internal (intravascular) pressure - External (tissue) pressure
Effect of chronic increase in blood pressure on wall thickness
Causes remodeling increasing vessel wall thickness and reducing radius
Purpose of high compliance in venous system
- Helps keep the pressure in the venous system low
- can accommodate large changes in blood volume with only small changes in pressure
- Acts as a blood reservoir ( volume can be controlled via changes in vascular tone, shifting blood to/from other parts of the circulation)