CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

Layers of the heart wall:

 System of connecting tubes (blood vessels) and pumps Endo (innermost) that lines the chambers of the heart.
(valves) that are filled with blood. Myo (middle layer) made up mostly of cardiac muscle which
 Its main components are: blood, blood vessels, and the makes the heart pump
heart. Epi (outermost)
 In cooperation with the respiratory system, the circulatory
system transports gases between the sites of external and
internal respiration

Cardiovascular System develops from mesoderm.

The sinus venosus is the first chamber to receive returning

blood. Blood flows next into the atrium, then into the
ventricle, and finally into the fourth chamber, the bulbus
cordis. From the bulbus cordis, blood leaves the heart to enter
arteries departing for the body of the embryo.

PERIPHERAL OR CIRCULATING BLOOD

Angiogenesis – blood vessel formation

Hemopoiesis – blood formation
Blood islands – small clusters of mesodermal cells mark the
embryonic debut of the cardiovascular system. These are
involved in angiogenesis (blood vessel formation) and
hemopoiesis (blood cell formation).

Splanchnic mesoderm and Heart formation
Cross-sectional Views
endocardial tubes endocardium
epimyocardium  myocardium, epicardium
 cells are produced by hemopoietic tissues
 comprised of plasma (fluid component that is the ground
substance of blood; a special connective tissue) and
formed elements, the cellular components of blood:
RBC/erythrocytes that function as containers of
hemoglobin, a major oxygen transport molecule;
WBC/leukocytes for immunity in disease protection; and
platelets in formation of blood clot at sites of tissue
damage.
Hemoglobin, the major oxygen transport molecule.

FACT: The heart is the first organ to function within an embryo.

 The embryonic heart is tubular.

 Development of the heart begins when cells leave the
splanchnic mesoderm to form the endocardial tubes.
 Cells remaining in the splanchnic mesoderm proliferate,
producing the paired epimyocardium.
 Cells of the endocardial tube and epimyocardium grow
toward the midline and fuse into the single, centrally
located, tubular heart.
 The fused endocardial tubes form the the endocardium
while the epimyocardium gives rise to the muscle of the
heart wall, the myocardium, together with the epicardium
covering the heart’s surface. With these fusions, the basic Others – regulation of body temperature (carries and
four-chambered embryonic heart is established: distributes heat), maintenance of water balance
BLOOD VESSELS

There are three principal types of blood vessels: arteries, veins,

and capillaries.
Arteries carry blood away from the heart, veins carry blood
toward the heart, and capillaries are the tiny vessels that lie
bet. them that facilitate efficient exchange.
The specific component of the cardiovascular system that
regulates and supports cell metabolism intimately is the
microcirculation which includes the capillaries as well as the
arterioles and venules.
These vessels also have tubular walls organized into three
layers/tunics that enclose a central lumen:
 Arterioles and venules possess these tunics however their
tunica adventitia is thin. –The tunica media is composed
mostly of smooth muscle and is THICK in arteries.
 Smooth muscles of the middle tunica media help regulate
the blood flow in the form of vasoconstriction (narrowing
of the vessel lumen) // vasodilation (enlarge size of the
vessel lumen)
 Capillaries: since very small and extremely thin, have only
a tunica intima layer.

Arteries expand to distribute blood when the heart contracts

which physically can be felt as “pulse”.

Veins have valves that prevent backflow so that blood moves

only one way back to the heart. To return the blood to the
heart, veins rely in external induced forces from the
surrounding active muscles to squeeze their walls.
HUMAN HEART (front view)
double circulation = blood passes twice through the heart,
traveling from the heart to the lungs, back to the heart, out to
the systemic tissues, and back to the heart a second time.
closed system = as blood is separated from other bodily fluids
contained in blood vessels

The heart lies within the pericardial cavity covered by the pericardium.
A pump that moves blood through vessels by pushing blood
through the circulatory system and also by aspiration — that
sucks immiscible deoxygenated and oxygenated blood.
 intercepts cancer cells but free cells cannot destroy
cancer cells.
 Lymphatic vessels are accessory venous system (similar to
veins, have walls and valves) which absorb and return
lymph (fluid carried by the lymphatic vessels, compose of
electrolytes and proteins w/o RBCs) back to the general
venous blood circulation.
Additional: Numerous lymphatic vessels in the digestive tract,
termed lacteals, pick up large-chain fatty acids and return them
to the blood circulation

Contraction is an intrinsic property of cardiac muscle that beat

in synchrony.

In mammals, the conducting system includes, in addition to the

SA node, a second node, the atrioventricular (AV) node in the
wall of the heart. The AV node consists of Purkinje fibers,
neuronlike fibers that are modified cardiac muscle cells. The
Purkinje fibers depart from the AV node, divide into left and
right bundles traveling within the interventricular septum to
the apex of the heart, then turn around the respective sides of
the ventricles. When escaped interstitial/tissue fluid enters the lymph vessels,
it is called lymph. Lymph ultimately drains into the postcaval or
LYMPHATIC SYSTEM subclavian (in the anterior appendages in quadrupeds) veins.

LYMPH - MEDULLA
NODE - CORTEX

 The lymphatic system is partner with the circulatory

system. It aids fluid return to the circulatory system and is
engaged in several special functions. Structurally, there
are two components of the lymphatic system: lymphatic
vessels and lymphatic tissue, a collection of connective
tissue and free cells (leuko, macrophages, plasma cells =
strengthen the body’s immunity).
 Lymphatic tissues are located anywhere in the body as
encapsulated or unencapsulated (are diffuse or in
patches). Lymphatic tissue is involved in the removal and
destruction of harmful foreign material and also