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Synonym: Circulation
German: Blutkreislauf
The blood circulation is the physiological transport process of arterial and/or venous blood through the vascular system and the heart chambers. It is driven by the heart's pump function.
One distinguishes between the systemic and the pulmonary circulation.
The systemic circulation starts from the left ventricle of the heart. From there the oxygenated blood is pumped into the aorta, which feeds into the downstream arteries and/or arterioles and eventually into the capillaries of the body. The blood then flows from the capillary bed into the venules and veins and from there reaches the right atrium of the heart through the superior and inferior venae cavae.
The pulmonary circulation starts from the right ventricle of the heart. From there the de-oxygenated blood is pumped through the pulmonary arteries into the capillaries of the pumonary alveoli. From these capillary beds the blood flows into the left atrium of the heart via the pulmonary veins and can then start its journey once again into the systemic circulation.
The most important functions of the circulation are:
Authors: https://flexikon.doccheck.com/en/index.php?title=Blood_circulation&action=history
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This page was last edited on 8 August 2017, at 12:56.
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