circulatory system

• heart - located behind the sternum (breast bone)
• heart - pumps blood through the blood vessels
• pericardium - tough connective tissue sac
• endocardium - internal membrane
• atria - upper chambers
• atria - receive blood into the heart and have thinner muscular walls
• right atrium - deoxygenated blood from lungs
• left atrium - oxygenated blood from lungs
• ventricles - pump blood out of the heart, thicker muscle wall than atria
• valves - one-way doors that keep the blood moving in only one direction
• tricuspid valve - between right atrium and ventricle
• bicuspid valve - between left atrium and ventricle
• aortic valve - left ventricle to aorta
• pulmonary - right ventricle to pulmonary artery
• blood - river of life
• blood - carries variety of essential elements throughout the body
• blood - fluid tissue
• 55% - plasma
• 45% - percent RBC
• <1% - WBC and platelets
• blood plasma - pale yellowish liquid, 92% water and 8% complex mixture
• RBC - also called as erythrocyte
• RBC - circular, flattened, biconcave disc, no nucleus and mitochondria, produced by the bone marrow, lasts until 120 days, destroyed in the spleen and liver
• WBC - also called as leukocytes
• WBC - larger than RBC, fewer in number, protects the body from diseases
• ratio of rbc to wbc - 700:1
• Phagocytosis - process of destroying foreign body
• platelets - also called as thrombocytes
• Platelet - small fragments of cytoplasm with no nuclei, formed in the bone marrow, involved in blood clotting
• blood vessels - channels in which main function is to transport blood all throughout the body
• arteries - carry oxygenated blood away from heart towards tissues
• veins - carries deoxygenated blood back to heart
• capillaries - smallest blood vessel that connect arteries and veins, where exchange of materials occurs between blood and tissue cells
• superior vena cava - upper part
• aorta - largest artery carrying oxygenated blood from left ventricle to rest of body
• inferior vena cava - lower part of the body
• pulmonary artery - deoxygenated blood from heart to lungs
• pulmonary vein - oxygenated blood from lungs to heart
• coronary arteries - supply blood to heart muscle itself
• pulmonary circulation - type of circulation that transports deoxygenated blood from heart to the lungs