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The peripheral vascular system is the part of the circulatory system that consists of the veins and arteries not in the chest or abdomen (i.e. in the arms, hands, legs and feet). [1] [2] The peripheral arteries supply oxygenated blood to the body, and the peripheral veins lead deoxygenated blood from the capillaries in the extremities back to ...
Blood vessels function to transport blood to an animal's body tissues. In general, arteries and arterioles transport oxygenated blood from the lungs to the body and its organs, and veins and venules transport deoxygenated blood from the body to the lungs. Blood vessels also circulate blood throughout the circulatory system.
In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. [1] [2] It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart and blood vessels (from Greek kardia meaning heart, and Latin vascula meaning vessels).
In the largest vessels, the vasa vasorum penetrates the outer (tunica adventitia) layer and middle (tunica media) layer almost to the inner (tunica intima) layer. In smaller vessels it penetrates only the outer layer. In the smallest vessels, the vessels' own circulation nourishes the walls directly and they have no vasa vasorum at all.
Small vessels like vasa vasorum and vasa nervorum are particularly susceptible to external mechanical compression. [2] A decrease in blood flow through the vasa nervorum has been implicated in the development of diabetic neuropathy. Arteritis of the vasa nervorum leads to mononeuritis multiplex or polyneuropathy. [3]
Blood resistance varies depending on blood viscosity and its plugged flow (or sheath flow since they are complementary across the vessel section) size as well, and on the size of the vessels. Assuming steady, laminar flow in the vessel, the blood vessels behavior is similar to that of a pipe.
An arteriole is a small-diameter blood vessel in the microcirculation that extends and branches out from an artery and leads to capillaries. [ 1 ] Arterioles have muscular walls (usually only one to two layers of smooth muscle cells ) and are the primary site of vascular resistance .
The externa, alternatively known as the tunica adventitia, is composed of collagen fibers and elastic tissue—with the largest arteries containing vasa vasorum, small blood vessels that supply the walls of large blood vessels. [3] Most of the layers have a clear boundary between them, however the tunica externa has a boundary that is ill-defined.