Circulatory system mean arterial pressure

The integrated function of the vasculature and heart, as a closed circulatory system, supplies nutrients and oxygen to critical organs and removes metabolic wastes and carbon dioxide. This integrated system results from the careful control of cardiac output, arterial blood pressure (systolic and diastolic pressures integrated to derive mean arterial pressure), and systemic vascular resistance, thereby maintaining blood perfusion through... 

The geometrical parameters of the canine systemic and pulmonary circulations are summarized in Table 56.1. Vessel diameters vary from a maximum of 19 mm in the proximal aorta to 0.008 mm (8 m) in the capillaries. Because of the multiple branching, the total cross-sectional area increases from 2.8 cm in the proximal aorta to 1357 cm in the capillaries. Of the total blood volume, approximately 83% is in the systemic circulation, 12% is in the pulmonary circulation, and the remaining 5% is in the heart. Most of the systemic blood is in the venous circulation, where changes in compliance are used to control mean circulatory blood pressure. This chapter will be concerned with flow in the larger arteries, classes 1 to 5 in the systemic circulation and 1 to 3 in the pulmonary circulation in Table 56.1. Flow in the microcirculation is discussed in Chapter 59, and venous hemodynamics is covered in Chapter 60. 

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