Functional Histology:

Heart, Conduction and Vessels

- Dr. Sanket Dadarao Hiware
Dept of Anatomy
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Learning Objectives

To relate the normal structure of the heart and

vessels with function.
• Heart
• Arteries
• Veins
• Capillaries

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Function of the Vascular System

• Gas exchange
• control of metabolic activity
• temperature control
• hormone distribution
• immune function
• Blood pressure regulation

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Histology of blood vessels

• The walls of the blood vessels except capillaries consist of
three layers:
Tunica Intima:
• Closest to lumen
• single layer of endothelium attached to basement membrane
• subendothelial CT
Tunica Media:
• Middle Muscle layer
• Inner boundary - internal elastic lamina
• Outer boundary - external elastic lamina
Tunica Adventitia:
• Outer Connective tissue layer
• containing small blood vessels
(vasa vasorum) and Nerves

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Types of Vessels
 Large elastic artery
 Medium sized (muscular)
artery
 Arteriole
 Capillary
 Venule, small vein
 Medium sized vein
 Large vein

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Large Elastic Arteries

e.g. Aorta, subclavian, carotid & iliac arteries
function is to conduct blood from heart to organs & tissues
Tunica Intima
• layer of simple squamous epithelium (endothelium) on basement
membrane
Very Thick Tunica Media
• fenestrated layers of elastin - 30 to 50 layers of elastin
• layers of smooth muscle
• also contains collagen
Tunic Adventitia
• connective tissue - collagen, fat, small blood vessels
• These vessels distend during systole & the subsequent recoil of their
walls during diastole maintains a continuous flow of blood.
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AORTA: Elastic Artery

Tunica Intima Endothelium

Tunica Media

Tunica adventitia
Vasa vasorum

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Aorta

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Elastic artery
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Muscular or Medium-Sized Arteries

e.g. Brachial, femoral, radial & popliteal
diameters of more that 0.5mm
Tunica Intima
• Simple squamous endothelium
• Subendothelial connective tissue
• Internal elastic lamina is distinct
Tunica Media
• 10 to 40 layers of smooth muscle – small amounts of elastin -
some collagen
• External elastic lamina is distinct.
Tunica Adventitia
• Connective tissue

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Muscular Artery

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Muscular Artery

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Elastic Artery (R) vs Muscular Artery (L)

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Arterioles
Diameters 30 - 200μm
• Only 1 or 2 layers of smooth muscle cells
• Involved in blood pressure control
• Relaxation & contraction of smooth muscle cells leads to
changes in lumen size & changes in resistance to flow

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Arteriole

Large Small

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Venous System
• Return blood flow to the heart
• contain valves - prevent backflow of blood

• Histology:
 Very thinned walls compared to arteries
 do not maintain round shape like arteries
 In general, veins have a larger diameter than accompanying
arteries.

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Artery

Vein

Jeffery B. Kerr. (1999) Atlas of Functional Histology

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Large Veins
e.g. Portal vein, pulmonary veins, vena cava
Tunica Intima
• Simple squamous endothelium
• Subendothelial connective tissue
Tunica Media
• Very thin
Tunica Adventitia
• Thick loosely arranged connective tissue
• Contains some longitudinal smooth muscle cells

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Large Veins

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Medium Sized Veins

• Internal elastic membrane is incomplete - not
prominent
• Much less smooth muscle, collagen & elastin in
tunica media compared to corresponding arteries
• Prominent adventitia
• Valves

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Medium Sized Artery And Vein

Vein

Artery

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 An important feature
of large and medium
veins are valves,
which consist of thin,
paired folds of the
tunica intima
projecting across the
lumen, rich in elastic
fibers and covered
on both sides by
endothelium
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Venules:
• They are small veins.
• Intima: consists of endothelium.
• Media: thin and consists of 1-2 layers of smooth muscle.
• Adventitia: is the thickest layer.

Post-capillary venules
• Diameter: 10 to 30 μm
• Smallest-sized venules
• Blood enters from capillary network
• Leukocytes migrate into the tissue largely at this point during
an inflammatory response.

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Capillaries

• Diameter - 4 to 10 μm
• Endothelial tubes encircled by a basement membrane
• Pericytes - contractile cells located on the outer surface of
the capillary wall
• Slow blood flow - large surface area - very thin walls
• Well adapted for the exchange of diffusible substances
between blood & the surrounding environment

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Pericytes

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3 Types of Capillaries
Continuous:
• Most common
• Found in muscle, brain and thymus.
• Continuous endothelial layer
• Joined by tight / occluding junctions
Fenestrated:
• In the gut, endocrine glands, renal glomerulus
• Interruptions across the endothelium which are bridged by a thin
diaphragm
Sinusoidal:
• Larger diameter
• Liver, spleen, bone marrow
• Gaps appear in walls allowing passage of whole cells between the blood &
Tissue.

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 capillaries
 Continuous capillaries
 Fenestrated capillaries
 Sinusoids
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Continuous Capillary

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Fenestrated Capillary

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Sinusoidal Capillary

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Sinusoidal Capillary

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The Heart
Is the pump of the cardiovascular system
Pumping mechanism is not fixed but responds to variations in
circulatory flow in periods of rest & exercise.
Endocardium:
• Tunica intima- endothelial layer continuous with veins & arteries
entering & leaving the heart.
Myocardium:
• Tunica media - thick cardiac muscle layer
• High density of capillaries
• Specialised areas of Purkinje fibres (conducting system of the heart).

Epicardium:
• Squamous type mesothelium and basal lamina together with connective
tissue containing blood vessels & nerves that supply the heart muscle.

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Conduction System of the Heart

• Conducts an electrical impulse throughout the myocardium
• 4 Structures
 Sinoatrial node (SA node)
 Atrioventricular node (AV node)
 Atrioventricular bundle (AV bundle or AV bundle of His)
 Purkinje Fibres
• Made up of modified muscle cells

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Purkinje Fibres
 The Purkinje fibres are
found in the sub-
endocardium.
 These are pale-
staining fibers, larger
than the adjacent
contractile muscle
fibers, with sparse,
peripheral myofibrils
and much glycogen
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Purkinje Fibres

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