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| ARTERIES Arteries carry blood away from the heart. Pulmonary arteries transport blood that has a low oxygen content from the right ventricle to the lungs. Systemic arteries transport oxygenated blood from the left ventricle to the body tissues. Blood is pumped from the ventricles into large elastic arteries that branch repeatedly into smaller and smaller arteries until the branching results in microscopic arteries called arterioles. The arterioles play a key role in regulating blood flow into the tissue capillaries. About 10 percent of the total blood volume is in the systemic arterial system at any given time.
The heart muscle, like every other organ or tissue in your body, needs oxygen-rich blood to survive. Blood is supplied to the heart by its own vascular system, called coronary circulation. Aorta The aorta (the main blood supplier to the body) branches off into two main coronary blood vessels (also called arteries). These coronary arteries branch off into smaller arteries, which supply oxygen-rich blood to the entire heart muscle. The largest artery in the body, the aorta connects directly to the heart and is the first blood vessel that blood contacts as it leaves the heart at the start of the circulatory cycle. Coronary arteries The vessels that supply the heart muscle with blood rich in oxygen. They are called the coronary arteries because they encircle the heart in the manner of a crown. The word "coronary" comes from the Latin "corona" and Greek "koron" meaning crown. Like other arteries, the coronaries may be subject to arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Coronary arteries one of several small arteries solely responsible for supplying the heart muscle itself. The coronary arteries arise from the aorta, and are the only way in which the heart receives a constant supply of oxygen and other nutrients. There are several main coronary arteries, each of which is responsbile for supplying a different physical area of the heart. The two most important coronary arteries are
Pulmonary Artery The Pulmonary Artery is a large blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart, towards the lungs, and supplies the large capillary network in lungs by which oxygen enters the blood. It is the only artery in the body that carries blood with low oxygen levels. Except for the Pulmonary Artery, all other arteries exclusively transport blood that contains high levels of oxygen. |