CIRCULATORY

SYSTEM
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Briefly describe the functions of the blood vessels,

heart, and blood.
• Differentiate between arteries, veins, and capillaries
by structure and function.
• Locate the femoral, radial, brachial, and ulnar
arteries.
• Locate the basilic, cephalic, median cubital, radial,
and saphenous veins.
• Trace the pathway of blood through the heart and
define the function of each chamber.
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Identify the components of blood.

• State the major function of red blood cells, white
blood cells, and platelets.
• Briefly explain the coagulation process.
• Describe the major disorders associated with the
circulatory system.
• State the clinical correlations of laboratory tests
associated with the circulatory system
 HAU Core Values

• Excellence
• Integrity
 CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

• The circulatory (cardiovascular) system

consists of the ______, _______, and the
_______.
• Blood is circulated through the blood
vessels by the heart to deliver ______ and
________ to the cells and transport
______ _______ to the organs that
remove them from the body.
 CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

• The three types of blood vessels that

transport blood throughout the body are
_________, _________, and _________
 CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
The walls of the arteries and veins consist of
three layers.
● Tunica externa: composed of ________ tissue.
● Tunica media: composed of _______ muscle
and _______ tissue.
● Tunica intima: composed of a lining of _____
cells. The space within a blood vessel through
which the blood flows is called a ________.
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
 ARTERIES
• Large thick-walled blood vessels that propel
oxygen-rich blood ______ from the heart to the
_________.
• Arteries branch into smaller thinner vessels
called arterioles that connect to________.
• The thicker walls aid in the pumping of blood,
maintain normal blood pressure (BP), and give
arteries the strength to resist the high pressure
caused by the contraction of the heart ventricles
 ARTERIES
• The elastic walls expand as the heart pushes
blood through the arteries.
• This is necessary to maintain the pumping
pressure to distribute the blood from the
artery through the ________ to the
capillaries.
ARTERIES
 VEINS

• Have thinner walls than arteries and carry

_________blood,________, and other waste
products back to the heart.
• No gaseous exchange takes place in the
veins, only in the_________.
• The thinner walls of veins have less elastic
tissue and less connective tissue than arteries
because the BP in the veins is very low.
 VEINS

• Veins have one-way valves to keep blood

flowing in one direction as the blood flows
through the veins by ________________
• The leg veins have numerous valves to
return the blood to the heart against the
force of gravity.
 VEINS

• Most blood tests are performed on

_________ blood.
• Venipuncture is the procedure for
removing blood from a vein for analysis.
The veins of choice for venipuncture are
the _______, ________, and
_____________ veins located in the
antecubital area of the elbow
 HEART

• The heart is a hollow muscular organ

located in the thoracic cavity between the
lungs and slightly to the left of the body
midline that consists of two pumps to
circulate blood throughout the circulatory
system.
• It is enclosed in a membranous sac called
the _______________.
 HEART

• The heart has four chambers and is

divided into right and left halves by a
partition called the __________.
• Each side has an upper chamber called
an _________ to collect blood and a lower
chamber called a _________ to pump
blood from the heart.
 HEART

• The right side is the “pump” for the

________ circulation, and the left side is
the “pump” for the ________circulation.
• The heart contracts and relaxes to pump
oxygen-poor blood through the heart to the
lungs and return oxygenated blood to the
heart for distribution throughout the body.
 Pathway of Blood Through
the Heart
• Two large veins, the superior vena cava
and the inferior vena cava, transport
oxygen-poor blood to the _________ of
the heart.
• The ____________ collects blood from the
upper portion of the body, and the
______________ collects blood from the
• lower portion of the body.
 Pathway of Blood Through
the Heart
• The blood passes through the _______
valve to the right ventricle.
• The right ventricle contracts to pump the
blood through the ____________ valve
into the right and left pulmonary arteries
that carry it to each lung. In the lung
capillaries, blood releases _________and
acquires ________ .
 Pathway of Blood Through
the Heart
• The right and left pulmonary veins carry
the _________ blood from the lungs to the
left atrium of the heart.
• The blood flows through the ______ valve
into the left ventricle that contracts to
pump blood through the aortic semilunar
valve into
 BLOOD

• Blood is the body’s main fluid for transporting

_________, _________, _________, and
__________ through the circulatory system.
• An average adult has a blood volume of
_______ liters. Blood consists of two parts: a
liquid portion called _______, and a cellular
portion called the formed elements .
 BLOOD

• Approximately 55% of the total blood

volume.
• ___________ is a clear, straw-colored fluid
that is about 91% water and 9% dissolved
substances. It is the transporting medium for
the __________, _________, minerals,
gases, vitamins, hormones, and blood cells,
as well as waste products of metabolism.
 BLOOD

• The formed elements constitute

approximately ____% of the total blood
volume and include the erythrocytes (red
blood cells [RBCs]), leukocytes (white blood
cells [WBCs]), and thrombocytes (platelets).
• Blood cells are produced in the
_____________, which is the spongy material
that fills the inside of the major bones of the
body.
 BLOOD

• Cells originate from __________ in the

bone marrow, differentiate, and mature
through several stages in the bone
marrow and ____________ until they
are released to the circulating blood
 Erythrocytes
• Erythrocytes (RBCs) are anuclear biconcave
disks that are approximately ____ microns in
diameter.
• Erythrocytes contain the protein
____________ to transport oxygen and
carbon dioxide.
• Hemoglobin consists of two parts, _____ and
______. The _______ portion requires iron for
its synthesis
 Erythrocytes

• Erythrocytes mature through several

stages in the bone marrow and enter the
circulating blood as ___________ that
contain fragments of nuclear material.
There are approximately ____ to ____
million erythrocytes per microliter (µL) of
blood, with men having slightly higher
values than women.
 Erythrocytes

• The normal life span for an erythrocyte is

____ days. Macrophages in the liver and
______ remove the old erythrocytes from
the bloodstream and destroy them. The
iron is reused in new cells.
 Blood Group and Type

• The surface of erythrocytes contains

_______ that determine the blood group
and type of an individual, frequently
referred to as the person’s ____ group and
_____ type.
 Blood Group and Type

• Four blood groups exist based on the

antigens present on the erythrocyte
membrane. Group A blood has the “A”
antigen (Ag), and group B blood has the “B”
antigen. Group AB blood has both the “A”
and “B” antigens, and group O blood has
neither the “A” nor the “B” antigens. Groups
____ and _____ are the most common, and
group AB is the least common.
 Blood Group and Type
• The plasma of an individual contains
naturally occurring _______ for those
antigens not present on the erythrocytes.
• Group A blood has anti-B antibodies in the
plasma, and group B blood has anti-A
antibodies. Group O blood has both the anti-
A and anti-B antibodies, and group AB blood
has neither anti-A nor anti-B antibodies.
 Blood Group and Type

• A ___________may occur when a person

receives a different group of blood because
a person’s natural antibodies will destroy
the donor RBCs that contain the antigen
specific for the antibodies. Patients receive
group-specific blood to avoid this type of
transfusion reaction.
 Rh Type
• The presence or absence of the RBC
antigen called the Rh factor or ________
determines whether a person is type Rh-
positive or Rh-negative.
• Rh-negative people do not have natural
antibodies to the Rh factor but will form
antibodies if they receive Rh-positive blood.
A second transfusion of Rh-positive blood
will cause a transfusion reaction.
Hemolytic disease of the newborn occurs
when an incompatibility is present between
________ and _______ blood Rh antigens.
 Leukocytes
• Leukocytes, or WBCs, provide immunity to
certain diseases by producing __________ and
destroying harmful pathogens by ___________.
• Leukocytes are produced in the bone marrow
from a stem cell and develop in the _______
and _________.
• They differentiate and mature through several
stages before being released into the
bloodstream.
 Leukocytes

• Leukocytes circulate in the peripheral

blood for several hours and then migrate
to the tissues through the _________.
• The normal number of leukocytes for an
adult is ______ to _______ per µL of
blood
 Leukocytes

• Five types of leukocytes are present in the

blood, each with a specific function.
• They are distinguished by their
morphology.
• When stained with Wright’s stain, the cells
are examined microscopically for ________
in the cytoplasm, the __________, and the
_________ of the cell.
 Leukocytes

• The five normal types of leukocytes are

_________, __________, __________,
_________, and ___________.
• A ________________ determines the
percentage of each type of leukocyte
 Neutrophils
(40% to 60%)

• Neutrophils, the most numerous

leukocytes, provide protection against
infection through _______________.
Neutrophils are called segmented or
__________ cells because the nucleus has
several lobes.
• The number of neutrophils increases in
__________ infections
 Lymphocytes
(20% to 40%)

• Lymphocytes, the second most numerous

leukocytes, provide the body with immune
capability by means of _______ and
________ lymphocytes.
• The lymphocyte has a large round purple
nucleus with a rim of ________ cytoplasm.
The number of lymphocytes increases in
__________ infections.
 Monocytes (3%
to 8%
• Monocytes are the _________ circulating
leukocytes and act as powerful phagocytes to
digest foreign material.
• The cytoplasm has a fine blue-gray
appearance with ________ and a large,
irregular nucleus. A tissue monocyte is known
as a _________. The number of monocytes
increases in intracellular infections and
_______ .
 Eosinophils
(1% to 3%)

• The granules in cytoplasm of eosinophils

stain ________ , and the nucleus has only
two lobes.
• Eosinophils detoxify foreign proteins and
increase in _________, _________, and
_______________.
 Basophils
(0% to 1%)
• Basophils are the ________ common of
the leukocytes.
• The cytoplasm contains large granules
that stain purple-black and release
_________ in the inflammation process
and __________ to prevent abnormal
blood clotting.
 Thrombocytes

• Thrombocytes or platelets are small,

irregularly shaped disks formed from the
cytoplasm of very large cells in the bone
marrow called the ___________.
• Platelets have a life span of ___ to
____days. The average number of
platelets is between ___________per µL
of blood.
 Thrombocytes

• Platelets play a vital role in blood clotting

in all stages of the _________mechanism.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• A complex coagulation mechanism that

involves blood vessels, platelets, and the
coagulation factors maintains __________.
• _________ is the process of forming a blood
clot to stop the leakage of blood when injury
to a blood vessel occurs and lysing the clot
when the injury has been repaired.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• A basic understanding of coagulation can

be obtained by dividing the process into
four stages.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• Stage 1
• ___________
• Blood vessels and platelets respond to an
injury to a blood vessel.
• Blood vessels _________ to slow the flow
of blood to the injured area.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• Stage 1
• Platelets become sticky, clump together
(_____________), and adhere to the
injured blood vessel wall
(______________) to form a temporary
platelet plug to stop the bleeding.
• The ___________test evaluates formation
of the platelet plug.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• Stage 2
• ____________
• The coagulation cascade initiates the
formation of ___________to strengthen the
platelet plug by forming a _________.
• In the coagulation cascade, one factor
becomes activated, which activates the next
factor in a specific sequence
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS
• Stage 2
• Two pathways, _______ and _______ come
together, called the common pathway, to
complete the cascade.
• The ____________and the ___________tests
evaluate the intrinsic pathway and monitor
heparin therapy. The _____________test
evaluates the extrinsic pathway and monitors
warfarin (Coumadin) therapy.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• Stage 2
• The ___________test evaluates the
extrinsic pathway and monitors warfarin
(Coumadin) therapy.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• Stage 3
• The last factor in the coagulation cascade
(_________) stabilizes the fibrin clot.
• This produces ________ (tightening) of the
clot
• The __________and the ________evaluate
this end stage of fibrin clot production.
COAGULATION/HEMOSTASIS

• Stage 4
• After the injury to the blood vessel has
healed the process of _________
degrades (breaks down) the fibrin clot into
_____________ (FDPs)
• The measurement of FDPs or _________
monitors fibrinolysis
 REFERENCES

• McCall, R. (2020). Phlebotomy essentials.

JONES & BARTLETT PUB Incorporated.