ANAT 216 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Tunica Intima, Tunica Externa, Tunica Media
2 Oct 2017
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Document Summary
Overview of blood vessels and functions (reading material: chapter 22: pages 571-599) Carry blood away from heart, transport blood to tissues and return back to heart. Form a closed system that starts and ends with heart. Diameter and thickness of wall increase as you near heart (main elastic arteries, medium muscular arteries, arterioles, capillaries) (capillaries, venules, small veins, large veins) Structure of blood vessel walls: composed of three tunics: simple squamous epithelium (endothelium) Subendothelial layer (only seen when vessel is thick) In direct contact with blood smooth muscle and elastic fibers. Wall surrounding blood vessel tunica intima (interna): tunica media: tunica externa: Aka tunic adenticia connective tissue with collagen and elastic fibers. Anchors blood vessels to tissues in surrounding area. Arterial systems: two major properties: elasticity contractility expand to accommodate increasing am0ountt of blood into vessel, these arteries then recoil to push blood onwards and forwards. Outer boundary of interna (thick lighter area) stops and media starts.
