VAna 1 Macroscopic Anatomy

Chapter 7 Circulatory System

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

 Consists of the heart, blood vessels and lymphatics (Pasquini and Spurgeon, 1988)
 Consists of two (2) principal divisions:
a. Blood Vascular System b. Lymph Vascular System
FUNCTION of the CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
1. Provides transportation for the nutrients required by the different organs and tissues
2. Removes waste and other metabolic by-products from the cells
3. Provides immunity from diseases
HEART
- This is a muscular organ that drives the circulatory system
- It is composed of striated muscles with involuntary innervation
- Mammalian heart has four chambers, Reptilian heart has three.
- And it has specific input channels, the veins and specific output channels, the arteries.
- In dogs, one can hear the heartbeat of puppies at 22-23 days in utero.
PARTS of the HEART
I. PERICARDIUM
- Also known as the heart sac
- This is a fibroserous envelope of the heart
- Divided into the fibrous (external or outer part) and serous part (inner/external part)
- The serous part is divided into parietal and visceral layer

A. Fibrous Pericardium (pericardium fibrosus)

- A thin, tough sac that contains the serous pericardium, a small amount of fluid and the
heart. (deLahunta and Evans, 2013)
- Most of the outer surface is covered by and adhered to the pericardial mediastinal pleura
- The thymus, which is found in young dogs, is in contact with the pericardium in variable
portion of its cranial surface.
- The inner surface is lined by the parietal layer of the serous pericardium.
- The base of this pericardium is continuous with the adventitia of the arteries and veins of
the heart.
- PHRENICOPERICARDIAC LIGAMENT- a dorsoventrically flattened band of yellow
elastic fascicles in the heart’s apex

B. Serous Pericardium (pericardium serosum)

- Forms a closed cavity into which approximately one half of its wall is invaginated by the
heart to form its visceral layer, the smooth, outer covering of the heart, the epicardium.
(deLahunta and Evans, 2013)
- The uninvaginated part forms the parietal layer.
- PERICARDIAL CAVITY- located between the two layers of the serous pericardium, the
smallest serous cavity.
 1. Parietal Layer (Lamina Parietalis)
- Firmly fused to fibrous pericardium that it is impossible to separate this layer to the
fibrous pericardium
- Composed of interlacing collagen fibers

2. Visceral Layer (Lamina Visceralis)

- Attached to the heart muscle, except along the grooves where fat and the coronary
vessels or their branches intervene.
- Has elastic fibers
- Transverse sinus of the pericardium is a U-shaped passage between the right and left
sides of the pericardial cavity, passes between the aorta and pulmonary trunk cranially
and the pulmonary veins caudally.
LAYERS of the HEART (“CARDIUM”)
1. Epicardium
- “EPI”-means being on top of
- This is a thin layer of mesothelium covering the surface of the heart
- This is the visceral layer of the serous pericardium (Pasquini and Spurgeon, 1988)

2. Myocardium
- “MYO”- means the muscular part
- The muscle layer that makes up the thickness of the cardiac wall

3. Endocardium
- “ENDO”- means being inside of
- This is the thin mesothelial layer lining the atria and ventricles
- This is continuous with the endothelial lining of the great vessels entering the heart

 The heart has a base and an apex

a. BASE
- This is the hilus of the organ facing dorsoventrally
- Receives the great veins and sends out the great arteries (Pasquini and Spurgeon,
1988)

b. APEX
- This is the caudoventral most part of the heart always formed by the left ventricle.
The Cardiac Chambers

 The heart has four chambers

 It has two atria that receives blood, and pump it down into the respective ventricles
 The two ventricles pump blood away from the heart

1. RIGHT ATRIUM
- The compartment that receives deoxygenated blood from the vena cava
 Structures Found in the Right Atrium
a. Right Auricle (auricle- Latin for little ear)
- Blind pockets of the atria, characterized by the pectinate muscles on its wall.

b. Pectinate Muscles
- Interdigitaitng, crisscrossing muscular bands in the wall of both auricles. (Pasquini and
Spurgeon, 1988)

c. Interatrial Septum
- This serves as the wall that separates the two atria.
- The oval fossa which is a shallow depression in the interatrial septum is the remnant of
the foramen ovale.

d. Coronary Sinus
- This is the terminal part of the cardiac vein that opens into the right atrium.

The Five Openings of the Right Atrium

a. Cranial Vena Cava Opening

b. Caudal Vena Cava Opening
c. Azygous Vein Opening
d. Coronary Sinus Opening
e. Right Atrio-Ventricular Orifice

2. RIGHT VENTRICLE
- This is the compartment that receives blood from the right atrium and pumping it through
the pulmonary trunk.
- The right ventricle’s wall is thinner than the left due to the less pressure required to move
blood through the lungs than the body.

Structures Found in the Right Ventricle

e. Right Atrioventricular (AV) Opening

- The opening between the right atrium and right ventricles, functionally opened and
closed by the right atrioventricular valve. (Pasquini and Spurgeon, 1988)

f. Conus Arteriosus
- This is the dilation of the right ventricle to the pulmonary trunk

g. Pulmonary Opening
- This is the opening of the pulmonary trunk that is protected by the pulmonary valve

3. LEFT ATRIUM
- The chamber that receives oxygenated blood from the lungs via the pulmonary veins.

Structures Found in the Left Atrium

 a. Left Auricle
- A blind pocket with characteristic pectinate muscles as seen in the right auricle

4. LEFT VENTRICLE
- The chamber that receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium, then sends itout to the
systemic circulation through the aorta.
- Has thicker walls than the right ventricle due to the higher pumping pressure required for
the oxygenated blood to be pump into the systemic circulation.

Structures Found in the Left Ventricle

a. Left Atrioventricular (AV) Orifice or Opening

- The opening between the left atrium and the left ventricle that is operated by the left
atrioventricular valve

b. Aortic Opening
- The opening from the left ventricle into the aorta. (Pasquini and Spurgeon, 1988)
- AORTIC VALVE- prevents the backflow from the aorta into the left ventricle
Structures that Can be Seen in Both Ventricles
a. Papillary Muscles
- These are muscular projections serving as origins for chordae tendinae of the
atrioventricular valves

b. Chordae Tendinae
- Also known as tendinous cords
- These are tough strands anchoring the free edges of the atrioventricular valves of the
papillary muscles
- Prevent eversion of the valve leaflets back into the atrium upon ventricular contraction.

c. Interventricular Septum
- The wall that separates both ventricles.
Structures Found in the Surface of the Heart
a. Coronary Groove
- A depression that partially encircles the heart.
- This serves as an external indicator where the atria separates from the ventricles.
- Contains the coronary vessels

b. Conus
- This is the expanded outflow from the right ventricles into the pulmonary trunk.
- The only part that is spared of the coronary groove.

c. Paraconal Interventricular Groove

- External indicator of the interventricular septum.
- This groove descends the lateral side of the heart, adjacent to the conus, thus it is
known as paraconal.

d. Coronary Sinus
- The terminal part of the great coronary vein emptying into the right atrium.

e. Subsinosal Interventricular Groove

- The long depression on the caudal part of the heart’s right side.
- It is located below the coronary sinus.
- It also marks the interventricular septum externally.

f. Arterial Ligament
- Latin: Ligamentum artiosum
- Remnant of the fetal arterial duct connecting the pulmonary trunk and aorta. (Pasquini
and Spurgeon, 1988)
Great Vessels of the Heart
1. CRANIAL VENA CAVA
- A large vein returning blood from the head, neck and the thoracic limbs to the right
atrium. (Pasquini and Spurgeon, 1988)

2. CAUDAL VENA CAVA

- A large vein that returns blood from the part of the thorax, the viscera, pelvic limbs and
fail to the right atrium.

3. PULMONARY TRUNK
- The large vessel that carries deoxygenated blood from the right ventricles to the two
pulmonary arteries and eventually to the lungs.

4. PULMONARY ARTERIES
- These are the two branches of the pulmonary trunk.

5. PULMONARY VEINS
- These are the numerous vessels that empty into the left atrium.
- Carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart’s left atrium.

6. AORTA
- This is the major outflow from the left ventricle into the systemic circulation.

APPLIED and CLINICAL ANATOMY

Heartworm
 Scientific name: Dirofilaria immitis
 Transmitted by mosquitoes
 Zoonotic, can also affect humans
 Species affected: dogs and cats
 Can cause right-sided heart failure due to blockage of the right ventricle and
pulmonary trunk by the adult worms
 Adult heartworms are found in the right ventricle and pulmonary trunk (artery)
 Clinical Signs: Coughing at dawn and early evening, unproductive (hard) cough,
shortness or gasping for breath after strenuous exercise.