The Circulatory System

(contd)
by

Femi Otulaja, PhD

 Let’s think & talk about the circulatory system
• The circulatory system is made
up of two circuits – two
circulation patterns
– Pulmonary circuit, which serve
the Lungs
– Systemic circuit, which serves the
rest of the body (head, torso,
limbs, internal organs including
heart and lungs)
• Each circuit has its own blood
vessels and carry different types
of blood
 Let’s think & talk about the Pulmonary Circuit
• The pulmonary circuit
– Blood returns from systemic circulation into the right
chambers of the heart loaded with CO2
– From the right atrium, blood passes to the right
ventricle through the tricuspid (AV) valve. From the
right ventricle the deoxygenated blood passes through
the semilunar valve into the pulmonary artery which
goes to the lungs
– The pulmonary trunk divides into two, namely, the right
& left pulmonary arteries (2 each of both sides of the
heart)
– In the lungs, the deoxygenated blood exchanges carbon
dioxide for oxygen and travels back to the heart through
the right & left pulmonary veins
– The pulmonary veins empty their oxygenated blood
into the left atrium.
– The left atrium contracts and pumps oxygenated blood
through the mitral (bicuspid) valve into the left
ventricle.
– The left ventricle with its thick wall contracts and
pumps oxygenated blood to the aorta going past the
semilunar valve into the systemic circuit.
Deoxygenated blood comes into the right side of the heart must
pass through the lungs before returning to the left side of the
heart and the to the systemic circuit
 Let’s think & talk about the Systemic Circuit
• The Systemic Circuit
When blood enters the left ventricle, the systemic circuit
begins the process of taking blood to the rest of the body

– The left ventricle pumps the oxygenated blood

through the aortic semilunar valves into the aorta,
the aorta artery in the body
– From the aorta, oxygenated blood travels through
the many branches of the arteries, arterioles and the
capillaries.
– In the capillary bed oxygen and nutrients in the blood
are exchanged for carbon dioxide and waste products
from the tissues.
– From the capillaries blood flows into the venules and
the veins to the superior and inferior vena cava back
to the right atrium

Deoxygenated blood in the right chambers of the heart do

not mix with oxygenated blood in the left chambers of the
heart.
More commonly, arteries and veins serve the same region of
the body
Some arteries & veins of the body
 Let’s think & talk about the Systemic Circuit
• The heart’s own circulation
– For the heart to do its hard work of
pumping blood to the body, it requires a lot
more oxygen and nutrients.
– The heart requires nearly one-twentieth
(1/20) of the total blood flow of the body
when at rest.
– The heart is continually filled with blood;
however, the myocardium is too thick for
oxygen and nutrients to diffuse through. So,
it has to have its own circulation.
– The heart has its own blood vessels called
the coronary arteries and veins
– The coronary arteries branches directly
from the aorta just above the semilunar
valves and winds around the heart surface.
They end up inside the myocardium where
cardiac veins collect deoxygenated blood
from the capillaries in the heart muscle and
returns it back into the right heart
 Let’s think & talk about the Systemic Circuit
• The heart’s own circulation
The coronary arteries are very small in diameter and
often become partially or completely blocked, as a
result of atherosclerosis, which leads to serious health
problem requiring bypass surgery – sometimes double
or triple bypass surgery.

Sometimes babies are born with heart defects ex.

where the ventricles are connected to the wrong
vessels, ex the right ventricle send blood to the aorta
and the left ventricle to the pulmonary trunk. What is
the problem with this arrangement? Or an atrial septal
defect (ASD), an abnormal hole between the two atrial
chambers, or a ventricular septal defect (VSD), an
abnormal hole between the two ventricles, will allow
blood to circulate between the two sides of the heart.
a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) that doesn't close
normally after birth. The PDA is a connection between
the aorta and pulmonary arteries that exists while a
baby is in the womb and doesn't use its lungs. The PDA
usually closes shortly after birth. Symptoms include:
Bluish colored skin (cyanosis), Shortness of breath,
Poor weight gain, and Poor feeding.
 Let’s think & talk about the Cardiac Cycle
• The heart’s contraction is pulsatile instead
of continuous – distinct and separate
pulses
– Complete cardiac cycle involves
contraction of the two atria, which
forces blood into the two ventricles
followed by the contraction of the two
ventricles which pumps blood into the
pulmonary artery and the aorta_
followed by the relaxation of the entire
heart.
– The period of contraction is referred to
as the systole and the period of
relaxation is referred to as the diastole.
The entire sequence of contraction and
relaxation is called the cardiac cycle.
– The cardiac cycle consist of three steps
 Let’s think & talk about the Cardiac Cycle
• The cardiac cycle consist of three steps
– Atrial systole
– Ventricular systole
– Diastole
• Atrial systole
– Filled with blood that entered the ventricles and atria from previous
diastole, contraction begins with the atria.
– both atria contract, raising blood pressure in the atria with a ‘kick’ that
fills the two ventricles to capacity
– Atrial systole also momentarily stops further inflow from the veins
– Both atrioventricular valves are still open while both semilunar valves
are still closed.
– Lasts 0.1 second

• Ventricular systole
– Contractions that begins in the atria spreads to the ventricles which
both contracts simultaneously
– Rising ventricular pressure as a result of contraction from the
ventricles causes the two atrioventricular (AV) valves to close,
preventing blood flow back to the atria and veins.
– The atria relax allowing them to be filled with blood
– Pressure in the ventricles continue to rise until it is greater than the
pressure in the arteries; at this point the pulmonary and aortic
semilunar valves open at the same time and blood is ejected into the
aorta and the pulmonary trunk. With each ventricular systole, 60% of
the blood in each ventricle is forcefully ejected
– Lasts 0.3 second
 Let’s think & talk about the Cardiac Cycle
• The cardiac cycle consist of three steps
– Atrial systole
– Ventricular systole
– Diastole

• Diastole
– Both atria and ventricles are relaxed throughout diastole
– Pressure within the ventricles begin to fall. As soon as the
ventricular pressures fall below arterial pressures during early
diastole, the pulmonary and semilunar valves close to prevent
backflow of arterial blood.
– Once blood pressure fall below the pressure in the veins, the
atrioventricular valves open and blood begins to flow passively
into the heart.
– The heart relaxes in diastole
– Lasts 0.8 second

A complete cardiac cycle lasts 0.8 second. This cycle is repeated

from before birth till death without ever stopping.
As the burst of blood enters the arteries, the walls of the arteries
stretch to accommodate the extra volume and arterial pressure
rises. Arteries recoil passively as blood passes through to the
capillaries where the exchange gases.
One can fill this cycle of rapid expansion and recoil in the wall of
the arteries as the PULSE. One can feel the pulse in the wrist (radial
artery) below the thumb.
Let’s think & talk about the Cardiac Cycle
 Let’s think & talk about the Cardiac conduction
system
• The cardiac conduction system
– The coordinated sequence of the cardiac cycle is due to
the cardiac conduction system
– This group of specialized cardiac muscle cells initiate and
distribute electrical impulses throughout the heart
– Consist of four structures
• Sinoatrial (SA) node
• Atrioventricular (AV) node
• Atrioventricular (AV) bundle and its two branches
• Purkinje fibers
• Sinoatrial (SA) node
– A small mass of cardiac muscle cells located at the
junction of the right atrium & superior vena cava
– They initiate electrical signals spontaneously &
repetitively without need for stimulation from
other cardiac cells and the impulses travel from
cell to cell generating waves of contraction
– This electrical transmission is made possible by
gap junctions between adjacent cells.
– Called the cardiac pacemaker because it initiates
heartbeat
 Let’s think & talk about the Cardiac conduction
system
• The cardiac conduction system
– The coordinated sequence of the cardiac cycle is due to
the cardiac conduction system
– This group of specialized cardiac muscle cells initiate and
distribute electrical impulses throughout the heart
– Consist of four structures
• Sinoatrial (SA) node
• Atrioventricular (AV) node
• Atrioventricular (AV) bundle and its two branches
• Purkinje fibers
• Atrioventricular (VA) node
– Electrical impulse from the SA node traveling across the
atria reaches the AV node
– Located between the atria & ventricles (this cardiac
muscle fiber is smaller in diameter and causing a slight
delay of approx. 0.1 second that slows the rate of
impulse travel
– The delay allows atria time to contract and empty their
blood into the ventricles before ventricular contraction
– The electrical charge from AV node spreads to a group of
conducting fibers in the septum of the between the tow
ventricles – the AV bundle and the Purkinje fibers
• Atrioventricular bundle
• Purkinje fibers
 Let’s think & talk about the Cardiac conduction system
• The cardiac conduction system
– The coordinated sequence of the cardiac cycle is due
to the cardiac conduction system
– This group of specialized cardiac muscle cells initiate
and distribute electrical impulses throughout the heart
– Consist of four structures
• Sinoatrial (SA) node
• Atrioventricular (AV) node
• Atrioventricular (AV) bundle and its two
branches
• Purkinje fibers
• Atrioventricular (AV) bundle & Purkinje fibers
– The fibers of the AV bundle extends to the smaller
fibers of the Purkinje fibers.
– They carry the impulse to all the myocardium of the
ventricle
– The electrical impulse travels down the septum to the
lower parts of the ventricle and then spread rapidly
upward through the Purkinje fibers allowing the lower
part of the ventricle to contract before the upper part.
– This lower-to-upper squeezing motion pushes blood
upwards into the pulmonary trunk and the aorta