"Bloodstream" redirects here. For the song by Ed Sheeran, see Bloodstream (song).

This article is about the animal circulatory system. For plants, see Vascular tissue.

Circulatory system

The human circulatory system (simplified). Red indicates

oxygenated blood carried in arteries, blue indicates
deoxygenated blood carried inveins. Capillaries, which join the
arteries and veins, and the lymphatic vessels are not shown.

Details

Identifiers

Latin

Systema gavar

MeSH

D002319

TA

12.0.00.000

FMA

7161

Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]

The circulatory system, also called the cardiovascular system or the vascular system, is
an organ system that permits blood to circulate and transport nutrients (such as amino
acids and electrolytes), oxygen, carbon dioxide,hormones, and blood cells to and from the cells in
the body to provide nourishment and help in fighting diseases, stabilize temperature and pH, and
maintain homeostasis. The study of the blood flow is called hemodynamics. The study of the
properties of the blood flow is called hemorheology.
The circulatory system is often seen to comprise two separate systems: the cardiovascular system,
which distributes blood, and the lymphatic system, which circulates lymph.[1] The passage of lymph
for example takes much longer than that of blood.[2] Blood is a fluid consisting of plasma, red blood
cells, white blood cells, and platelets that is circulated by the heart through the vertebrate vascular
system, carrying oxygen and nutrients to and waste materials away from all body tissues. Lymph is
essentially recycled excess blood plasma after it has been filtered from the interstitial fluid(between
cells) and returned to the lymphatic system. The cardiovascular (from Latin words meaning "heart"
and "vessel") system comprises the blood, heart, and blood vessels.[3] The lymph, lymph nodes,
and lymph vessels form the lymphatic system, which returns filtered blood plasma from the
interstitial fluid (between cells) as lymph.
While humans, as well as other vertebrates, have a closed cardiovascular system (meaning that the
blood never leaves the network of arteries, veins and capillaries), some invertebrate groups have an
open cardiovascular system. The lymphatic system, on the other hand, is an open system providing
an accessory route for excess interstitial fluid to be returned to the blood. [4] The more
primitive, diploblastic animal phyla lack circulatory systems.
Contents
[hide]

1Structure
1.1Cardiovascular system

1.1.1Arteries

1.1.2Capillaries

1.1.3Veins

1.1.4Coronary vessels

1.1.5Portal veins

1.1.6Heart

1.1.7Lungs

1.1.8Systemic circulation

1.1.9Brain

1.1.10Kidneys

1.2Lymphatic system

1.3Physiology

2Development
o

2.1Arterial development

2.2Venous development

3Clinical significance
o

3.1Cardiovascular disease

3.2Measurement techniques

3.3Surgery

4Society and culture

5Other animals
o

5.1Other vertebrates

5.2Open circulatory system

5.3Absence of circulatory system

6History

7See also

8References

9External links

Structure
Cardiovascular system

Depiction of the heart, major veins and arteries constructed from body scans.

Cross section of a human artery

Relative percentages of cardiac output delivered to major organ systems

The essential components of the human cardiovascular system are the heart, bloodand blood
vessels.[5] It includes the pulmonary circulation, a "loop" through thelungs where blood is oxygenated;
and the systemic circulation, a "loop" through the rest of the body to provide oxygenated blood. The
systemic circulation can also be seen to function in two partsa macrocirculation and
a microcirculation. An average adult contains five to six quarts (roughly 4.7 to 5.7 liters) of blood,
accounting for approximately 7% of their total body weight. [6] Blood consists of plasma, red blood
cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Also, the digestive system works with the circulatory system to
provide the nutrients the system needs to keep the heartpumping.[7]
The cardiovascular systems of humans are closed, meaning that the blood never leaves the network
of blood vessels. In contrast, oxygen and nutrients diffuse across the blood vessel layers and
enter interstitial fluid, which carries oxygen and nutrients to the target cells, and carbon dioxide and
wastes in the opposite direction. The other component of the circulatory system, the lymphatic
system, is open.
Arteries
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 thick-walled
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

Arteries branch into small passages called arterioles and then into the capillaries.[8] The capillaries
merge to bring blood into the venous system.[9]
Veins
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 theinferior vena cava (roughly
speaking from areas below the heart). These two great vessels empty into the right atrium of
the heart.
Coronary vessels
Main article: Coronary circulation
The heart itself is supplied with oxygen and nutrients through a small "loop" of the systemic
circulation.
Portal veins
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.
Heart
Main article: Heart

View from the front

The heart pumps oxygenated blood to the body and deoxygenated blood to the lungs. In the
human heart there is oneatrium and one ventricle for each circulation, and with both a systemic and

a pulmonary circulation there are four chambers in total: left atrium, left ventricle, right
atrium and right ventricle. The right atrium is the upper chamber of the right side of the heart. The
blood that is returned to the right atrium is deoxygenated (poor in oxygen) and passed into the right
ventricle to be pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for re-oxygenation and removal of
carbon dioxide. The left atrium receives newly oxygenated blood from the lungs as well as the
pulmonary vein which is passed into the strong left ventricle to be pumped through the aorta to the
different organs of the body.
The coronary circulation system provides a blood supply to the heart muscle itself. The coronary
circulation begins near the origin of the aorta by two arteries: the right coronary artery and the left
coronary artery. After nourishing the heart muscle, blood returns through the coronary veins into
the coronary sinus and from this one into the right atrium. Back flow of blood through its opening
during atrial systole is prevented by the Thebesian valve. The smallest cardiac veins drain directly
into the heart chambers.[7]
Lungs

The pulmonary circulation as it passes from the heart. Showing both the pulmonary artery and bronchial arteries.

Main article: Pulmonary circulation

The circulatory system of the lungs is the portion of the cardiovascular system in which oxygendepleted blood is pumped away from the heart, via the pulmonary artery, to the lungs and returned,
oxygenated, to the heart via the pulmonary vein.
Oxygen deprived blood from the superior and inferior vena cava enters the right atrium of the heart
and flows through the tricuspid valve (right atrioventricular valve) into the right ventricle, from which it
is then pumped through the pulmonary semilunar valve into the pulmonary artery to the lungs. Gas
exchange occurs in the lungs, whereby CO2 is released from the blood, and oxygen is absorbed. The
pulmonary vein returns the now oxygen-rich blood to the left atrium.[7]
A separate system known as the bronchial circulation supplies blood to the tissue of the larger
airways of the lung.

Systemic circulation
The systemic circulation is the circulation of the blood to all parts of the body except the lungs.
Systemic circulation is the portion of the cardiovascular system which transports oxygenated blood
away from the heart through the aorta from the left ventricle where the blood has been previously
deposited from pulmonary circulation, to the rest of the body, and returns oxygen-depleted blood
back to the heart.[7]
Brain
Main article: Cerebral circulation
The brain has a dual blood supply that comes from arteries at its front and back. These are called
the "anterior" and "posterior" circulation respectively. The anterior circulation arises from the internal
carotid arteries and supplies the front of the brain. The posterior circulation arises from the vertebral
arteries, and supplies the back of the brain and brainstem. The circulation from the front and the
back join together (anastomise) at the Circle of Willis.
Kidneys
The renal circulation receives around 20% of the cardiac output. It branches from the abdominal
aorta and returns blood to the ascending vena cava. It is the blood supply to the kidneys, and
contains many specialized blood vessels.

Lymphatic system
The lymphatic system is part of the circulatory system. It is a network of lymphatic
vessels and lymph capillaries, lymph nodes and organs, and lymphatic tissues and circulating lymph.
One of its major functions is to carry the lymph, draining and returning interstitial fluid back towards
the heart for return to the cardiovascular system, by emptying into the lymphatic ducts. Its other main
function is in the immune system.

Physiology

An animation of a typical human red blood cell cycle in the circulatory system. This animation occurs at real time (20
seconds of cycle) and shows the red blood cell deform as it enters capillaries, as well as changing color as it
alternates in states of oxygenation along the circulatory system.

Main article: Blood Oxygen transport

About 98.5% of the oxygen in a sample of arterial blood in a healthy human, breathing air at sealevel pressure, is chemically combined with hemoglobin molecules. About 1.5% is physically
dissolved in the other blood liquids and not connected to hemoglobin. The hemoglobin molecule is
the primary transporter of oxygen in mammals and many other species.