What is circulatory System?

➢ Circulatory system is the organ system

that brings nutrients, oxygen, hormones
and other needed substances to the cells
of the body from various points of origin.

➢ It also moves the carbon dioxide, and

waste and secretory products generated
by the cells to their disposal areas and /or
target organs.
Two closely related systems make up the circulatory system:

➢ The cardiovascular system- the circulating fluid is blood

➢ The lymph vascular system-the circulating fluid is milky

substance called lymph.

➢ Both systems are composed of hollow channels through

which fluid, where substances and cells are suspended,
circulates
Cardiovascular system consist of the
heart and the blood vascular
system.

Blood vascular refers to the blood vessels

that formed a circuit to and from the heart.
The heart and the blood vessels
comprise two continues system of tubes.

➢ Pulmonary circulation (pulmonic

circulation)- bring blood from the
heart to the lungs and then back to
the heart
➢ Systemic circulation –brings blood
from the heart to all the other tissues
and organs of the body and then back
to the heart
Heart
Four chambers of heart
➢ The heart is a hollow muscular organ,
about the size of a clenched of fist, which is
located in the central mediastinum of the
thoracic activity

➢ the left ventricle is the pump of systemic

circulation while the right ventricle is the
pump of pulmonary circulation.
Pericardium
➢ The heart is enveloped by connective tissue called pericardium.
The pericardium consist of two pouches, namely; fibrous
pericardium and serous pericardium, which are intimately
bound to each other
➢ The fibrous pericardium, the more external of the two pouches,
lines the central mediastinum. It is made up of connective tissue.
➢ The serous pericardium, has two layers because during
development. The more external of the layers of the serous
pericardium adheres to the fibrous pericardium and is called
parietal pericardium. The more internal layer adheres to the
heart and is called visceral pericardium
➢ Between the parietal and visceral is a space, the pericardial
activity , which contain a small amount of fluid (pericardial
fluid)
➢ The parietal pericardium is made up of loose connective tissue that is covered on its surface
by mesothelium.
➢ The visceral pericardium, which is also covered on its free surface by mesothelium is
synonymous with the epicardium
➢ The mesothelial cells are serous secreting cells. They responsible for elaborating pericardial
fluid
Histologic layers of the heart
The wall of the heart has three histologic layers; endocardium, myocardium, and epicardium

➢ The endocardium is the thinnest

histologic layer of the heart. It all lines
all the internal surfaces of the heart and
is continuous with the innermost layer
of the great vessels that enter and exit
the heart.
➢ The layer that adjoins the cardiac lumen is a
simple squamous epithelium is called
endothelium. Deep in the endothelium very thin
layer(subendothelial layer; subendothelium)
external to the subendothelium is layer of loose
connective tissue, external to this layer is another
loose of connective tissue layer called
subendocardium, a misnomer because the layer
is part of the endocardium. The subendocardium
contain many blood vessels and nerves. It also
contains many of the purkinje fibers that comprise
the impulse-conducting system of the heart
➢ The Myocardium, which lies external to the endocardium, is the thickest layer of the
heart,. It consist mainly of cardiac muscle fibers. The myocardial muscle fibers are
arranged in sheets that wind around the atria and the ventricles in a complex a spiraling
course. The originate and insert in the cardiac skeleton.
➢ Some cardiac muscle cells in the atria and the interventricular septum have endocrine
functions. They secrete at least two polypeptide hormones-atrial natriuretic peptide
(ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP)- which participate in cardio-renal
homeostasis and whose target organs are the kidneys, adrenals, pituitary gland, and
brain
➢ The Epicardium , forms the outermost layer layers of the heart , it consist loose
connective tissue that is lined on its external surface by mesothelium. In the areas of
the heart where bigger branches of the coronary arteries are lodged, the epicardium
contains a lot of adipose cells.
Skeleton of the heart
Cardiac skeleton is the term for the dense connective tissue that forms the central support
of the heart into which the cardiac muscles and valves are attached..
It has three components;
a) septum membraneceum, which refers to the part of skeleton that is in the
interventricular septum;
b) annuli fibrosi, which sorrounds the AV and semilunar orifices; and
c) trigona fibrosa, which are between the semilunar and AV orifices

Cardiac valves
The AV and semilunar valves are
similar in structure
microscopically .
 Impulse-conducting system of the Heart
The contraction of the cardiac muscle fibers is triggered not by neural impulse
but by electrical impulse that is generated and propagated by a population of
modified cardiac muscle fibers called purkinje fibers( purkinje cells; purkinje
cardiomyocytes) that are non- contractile.

Components of the impulse-conducting system of the heart

➢ The SA node consist of a dense network of interwoven purkinje fibers that are
slightly smaller than those found elsewhere in the heart. It is about 10 mm in length
and 3 mm in width and is located subepicardially at the boundary of the right atrium
at the superior vena cava. The SA node is called the cardiac pacemaker
➢ The anterior internodal tract (of Bachman); the middle internodal tract (of
wenkebach) ; and the posterior internodal tract (of Thorel).
➢ The AV node is about 6mm long and 2 to 3 mm wide and is located in the
myocardium of the posterior lower part of the interatrial septum
➢ The AV bundle (of his) is located in the dense connective tissue of the trigonum
fibrosum
➢ The right bundle branch runs downward along the periphery of the septum
membraneceum in the subendocardium of the right ventricle.
➢ The left bundle ventricle is also in the subendocardium but of the left ventricle
 Blood and Lymphatic Vessels, and Nerve of the Heart
• The heart wall is supplied by the right and left coronary arteries that arise from the
ascending aorta. Cardiac veins drain it.
• The main coronary arteries and their major branches are located in the inner epicardium
but the smaller branches go deep into the myocardium where they terminate as
capillaries.
• Most of the cardiac veins empty into the coronary sinus, which in turn opens into the
right atrium, but a few drain directly into the right atrium.
• Lymph channels are closely associated the musculature of the heart. They are abundant in
the myocardium, subendocardium, and subepicardium
• The cardiac musculature does not need neural stimulation to contract. The heart receives
efferent nerve fibers from the vagus nerve (CNX) and sympathetic division of the
autonomic nervous system.
• The axon terminals of the efferent nerve fibers are not in direct contact wit the muscle
fibers they innervate.
 Blood Vascular System
Blood vascular system is the collective term for all the blood vessels in the body, of which
there are three types; arteries, veins, and capillaries. In capillaries, the endothelium is the only
component of the vessel wall but in arteries and veins, the vessel was other components
Endothelium
The endothelium serve as lining material not
merely to facilitate the flow of blood through the
blood vessels but also to regulate the diffusion of
substance and cells to and from blood.
Endothelial cells also secrete some substances
that are important in the regulation of the
cardiovascular system including blood clotting
factors such as von Willebrand factor, endothelins,
prostacylins, nitric oxide and other substances
that mediate the inflammatory response.
Capillaries
Capillaries are the simplest of the blood vessels . They have very thin wall that consists
simply of a single layer of endothelial cells that rest on basal lamina.
Capillary endothelial cells have an ovoid or elongated nucleus that bulges into the lumen of
the vessel while their attenuated cytoplasm is clear to finely granular
Pericytes (cells of Rouguet; mural cells)
Associated with capillaries are slender called pericytes that which are known by other
names (in the liver ) they are called perisinusoidal cells Ito or hepatic stellate cells)
Three Types of capillaries
• Continous capillaries (lungs, CNS, Skin)
• Fenestrated capillaries (mucuos membrane, pancreas, endocrine glands and renal glomerulus)
• Sinusoidal capillaries (parenchyma of some organs including the liver, spleen, bone marrow an
certain endocrine glands.
 Histologic Layers of arteries and Veins
➢ Tunica Intima (Tunica Internal) consist
of an endothelium and subendothelium
layer that is made up pf loose
connective tissue that may have
occasional smooth muscle cells.
➢ Tunica Media is mainly made up of
concentrically-arranged smooth muscle
fibers.
➢ Tunica adventita (Tunica Externa) is
chiefly made up of loose connective
tissue where the cells and fibers are
arranged longitudinally.