Systemic circulation

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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Circulatory system.
(Discuss) Proposed since December 2014.

A diagram of the human heart; labeled is the blood vessel that sends blood from the heart through the systemic
circuit (the aorta) and the blood vessels that bring blood back from upper and lower body to the heart (the superior
and inferior vena cava, respectively).

Systemic circulation is the part of the cardiovascular system which carries oxygenated blood away
from the heart to the body, and returns deoxygenated blood back to the heart. This physiologic
theory of circulation was first described by Amato Lusitano (Joo Rodrigues from Castelo Branco,
1511-1568), a Portuguese doctor working in Italy, in his work composed by seven
volumesCurationum Medicinalium Centuri Septem 1st. edition in 1551. He was the first to describe
venous valves.[1] In 1628, William Harvey published his description of blood circulation in De motu
cordis.[2]
This term is opposed and contrasted to the term pulmonary circulation first proposed by Ibn alNafis.[3]
Contents
[hide]

1 Course
o 1.1 Arteries
o 1.2 Capillaries
o 1.3 Veins
o 1.4 Coronary vessels
o 1.5 Portal veins
2 Advantage
3 See also

4 References

Course[edit]

Diagram of the human heart. From the left ventricle, oxygenated blood enters through the aorta and is distributed
throughout the arteries of the systemic circuit.

Systemic circulation refers to the part of the circulatory system in which the blood leaves the heart,
services the body's cells, and then re-enters the heart.[4] Blood leaves through the left ventricle to the
aorta, the body's largest artery. The aorta leads to smaller arteries, arterioles, and finally
capillaries.[5] Waste and carbon dioxide diffuse out of the cell into the blood, and oxygen in the blood
diffuses into the cell.[6] Blood then moves to venous capillaries, and then the venae cavae: the
lower inferior vena cavaand the upper superior vena cava, through which the blood re-enters the
heart at the right atrium.

Arteries[edit]
See also: Arterial tree
Oxygenated blood enters the systemic circulation when leaving the left ventricle, through the
aortic semilunar valve. The first part of the systemic circulation is the aorta, a massive and thickwalled artery. The aorta arches and branches into major arteries to the upper body before passing
through the diaphragm, where it branches further into arteries which supply the lower parts of the
body.

Capillaries[edit]
Arteries branch into small passages called capillaries.[7] The capillaries merge to bring blood into the
veinous system.[8]

Veins[edit]
After their passage through body tissues, capillaries merge once again into venules, which continue
to merge into veins. The venous system finally coalesces into two major veins: the superior vena
cava (roughly speaking draining the areas above the heart) and the inferior vena cava (roughly
speaking from areas below the heart). These two great vessels empty into the right atrium of
the heart.

Coronary vessels[edit]
Main article: Coronary circulation
The heart itself is supplied with oxygen and nutrients through a small "loop" of the systemic
circulation.

Portal veins[edit]
The general rule is that arteries from the heart branch out into capillaries, which collect into veins
leading back to the heart. Portal veins are a slight exception to this. In humans the only significant
example is the hepatic portal vein which combines from capillaries around the gut where the blood
absorbs the various products of digestion; rather than leading directly back to the heart, the hepatic
portal vein branches into a second capillary system in the liver.

Advantage[edit]
Because the systemic circulation is powered by the left ventricle (which is very muscular), one
advantage of this form of circulation - as opposed to open circulation, or the gill system that fish use
to breathe - is that there is simultaneous high-pressure oxygenated blood delivered to all parts of the
body (except for the inner epithelial lining of the lungs which receive their oxygen during the
exchange of the gases themselves).

See also[edit]
Underwater diving portal

Pulmonary circulation
Double circulatory system

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Amatus Lusitanus discovered valves in veins and arteries; by David Hashavit,
citation: "There's a reasonable basis to assume that it was Dr. Amatus who first discovered the
"Blood circulation" phenomena"
2. Jump up^ Harvey, W., Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus,
Frankfurt, W. Fitzeri, 1628
3. Jump up^ Maton, Anthea; Jean Hopkins; Charles William McLaughlin; Susan Johnson;
Maryanna Quon Warner; David LaHart; Jill D. Wright (1993). Human Biology and Health.
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-981176-1.
4. Jump up^ The Franklin Institute. "Pulmonary Circulation: It's All in the Lungs". fi.edu.
5. Jump up^ University of Colorado Boulder (February 3, 2014). "The Circulatory System Part II:
The Heart and Circulation of Blood". colorado.edu. Missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
6. Jump up^ British Broadcasting Company (2014). "Gaseous exchange in the lungs". bbc.com.
7. Jump up^ National Institutes of Health. "What Are the Lungs?". nih.gov.
8. Jump up^ State University of New York (February 3, 2014). "The Circulatory System". suny.edu.