top of page

Blood Pressure Along the Vascular Circuit



Pressure Along the Vascular Circuit

  • Systemic Circulation

    • Artery: 95 mmHg

    • Arteriole: 60 mmHg

    • Capillary: 25 mmHg

    • Venule: 15 mmHg

    • Vein: 15-3 mmHg

  • Pulmonary Circulation

    • Artery: 15 mmHg

    • Capillary: 10 mmHg

    • Vein: 5 mmHg

  • Pressure in systemic circulation are higher than those in pulmonary circulation.

  • High-pressure system includes

    • Systemic arteries

    • Systemic arterioles

    • Left ventricle in its contracted state

  • Low-pressure system includes

    • All the remaining part of the circuit, including pulmonary circulation

    • Left ventricle in its relaxed state

Relation Between Resistance and Pressure

  • Pressure drop at any level depends on resistance at that level.

  • The more the resistance → the more the pressure drop.

  • Arterioles provide the greatest resistance → greatest pressure drop occurs at arterioles.

  • Why capillaries do not provide greater resistance in spite of having a smaller diameter?

    • Answer: Because capillaries are large in number → total cross-section area of all capillaries combined is larger than that of arterioles → capillaries provide lesser resistance.

 

Next >>

Comments

bottom of page