Circulatory system

The blood circulatory system is a syst em of organs t hat includes t he heart , blood vessels, and
blood which is circulat ed t hroughout t he ent ire body of a human or ot her vert ebrat e.[1][2] It
includes t he cardiovascular system, or vascular system, t hat consist s of t he heart and blood
vessels (from Greek kardia meaning heart, and from Lat in vascula meaning vessels). The
circulat ory syst em has t wo divisions, a syst emic circulat ion or circuit , and a pulmonary circulat ion
or circuit .[3] Some sources use t he t erms cardiovascular system and vascular system
int erchangeably wit h t he circulatory system.[4]
 Circulatory system

The human circulatory system (simplified). Red indicates oxygenated blood carried in arteries. Blue
indicates deoxygenated blood carried in veins. Capillaries join the arteries and veins.

Identifiers

MeSH D002319 (https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/record/ui?ui

=D002319)

TA98 A12.0.00.000 (http://www.unifr.ch/ifaa/Public/Ent

ryPage/TA98%20Tree/Entity%20TA98%20EN/12.
0.00.000%20Entity%20TA98%20EN.htm)

TA2 3891 (https://ta2viewer.openanatomy.org/?id=38

91)

FMA 7161 (https://bioportal.bioontology.org/ontologi

es/FMA/?p=classes&conceptid=http%3A%2F%2F
purl.org%2Fsig%2Font%2Ffma%2Ffma7161)

Anatomical terminology
The net work of blood vessels are t he great vessels of t he heart including large elast ic art eries,
and large veins; ot her art eries, smaller art erioles, capillaries t hat join wit h venules (small veins),
and ot her veins. The circulat ory syst em is closed in vert ebrat es, which means t hat t he blood
never leaves t he net work of blood vessels. Some invert ebrat es such as art hropods have an open
circulat ory syst em. Diploblast s such as sponges, and comb jellies lack a circulat ory syst em.

Blood is a fluid consist ing of plasma, red blood cells, whit e blood cells, and plat elet s t hat is
circulat ed around t he body carrying oxygen and nut rient s t o t he t issues, and wast e mat erials
away. Circulat ed nut rient s include prot eins and minerals, ot her component s t ransport ed are
gases such as oxygen, and carbon dioxide, hormones, and hemoglobin; providing nourishment , help
in t he immune syst em t o fight diseases, and in maint aining homeost asis by st abilizing
t emperat ure and nat ural pH.

In vert ebrat es, complement ary t o t he circulat ory syst em is t he lymphat ic syst em. This syst em
carries excess plasma filt ered from t he capillaries as int erst it ial fluid bet ween cells, away from
t he body t issues in an accessory rout e t o ret urn t he excess fluid back t o t he blood circulat ion as
lymph.[5] The passage of lymph t akes much longer t han t hat of blood.[6] The lymphat ic syst em is
a subsyst em t hat is essent ial for t he funct ioning of t he blood circulat ory syst em; wit hout it t he
blood would become deplet ed of fluid. The lymphat ic syst em works t oget her wit h t he immune
syst em.[7] Unlike t he closed circulat ory syst em, t he lymphat ic syst em is an open syst em. Some
sources describe it as a secondary circulatory system.

The circulat ory syst em can be affect ed by many cardiovascular diseases. Cardiologist s are
medical professionals which specialise in t he heart , and cardiot horacic surgeons specialise in
operat ing on t he heart and it s surrounding areas. Vascular surgeons focus on disorders of t he
blood vessels, and lymphat ic vessels.

Structure

Development

Function

Clinical significance
Other animals

History

See also

References

External links

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Last edited 5 days ago by Iztwoz