Which statement does not accurately describe veins?

a. Have less elastic tissue and smooth muscle than arteries.

b. Contain more fibrous tissue than arteries.

c. Most veins in the extremities have valves.

d. Always carry oxygen-poor blood.

Total peripheral resistance:

a. is inversely proportional to the length of the vascular bed

b. increases in anemia

c. decreases in polycythemia

d. is inversely related to the diameter of the arterioles

Which of the following can lead to decreased venous return of blood to the heart?

a. An increase in blood volume

b. An increase in venous pressure

c. Damage to the venous valves

d. Increased muscular activity

Arterial blood pressure increases in response to:

a. increasing stroke volume

b. increasing heart rate

c. atherosclerosis

d. rising blood volume

e. all of these

Which of the following would not result in the dilation of the terminal arterioles and upstream arterioles in systemic capillary beds?

a. A decrease in local tissue O₂ content

b. An increase in local tissue CO₂

c. A local increase in histamine

d. A local increase in pH

The structure of a capillary wall differs from that of a vein or an artery because

a. it has two tunics instead of three

b. there is less smooth muscle

c. it has a single tunic—only the tunica intima

d. none of these

The baroreceptors in the carotid sinus and aortic arch are sensitive to

a. a decrease in CO₂

b. changes in arterial pressure

c. a decrease in O₂

d. all of these

The myocardium receives its blood supply directly from the:

a. Aorta

b. Coronary arteries

c. Coronary sinus

d. Pulmonary arteries

Blood flow in the capillaries is steady despite the rhythmic pumping of the heart because of the:

a. Elasticity of the large arteries

b. Small diameter of capillaries

c. Thin walls of the veins

d. Venous valves

Using the letters from column B, match the artery descriptions in column A. (Note that some require more than a single choice.)

Column A 

____  (1) unpaired branch of abdominal aorta 

____  (2) second branch of aortic arch 

____ 3) branch of internal carotid 

____ (4) branch of external carotid 

____  (5) origin of femoral arteries

Column B

a. right common carotid

b. superior mesenteric

c. left common carotid

d. external iliac

e. inferior mesenteric

f. superficial temporal

g. celiac trunk

h. facial

i. ophthalmic

j. internal iliac

Which of the following do not drain directly into the inferior vena cava?

a. Inferior phrenic veins

b. Hepatic veins

c. Inferior mesenteric vein

d. Renal veins

Tracing the blood from the heart to the right hand, we find that blood leaves the heart and passes through the aorta, the right subclavian artery, the axillary and brachial arteries, and through either the radial or ulnar artery to arrive at the hand. Which artery is missing from this sequence?

a. Coronary

b. Brachiocephalic

c. Cephalic

d. Right common carotid

How is the anatomy of capillaries and capillary beds well suited to their function?

a. Define blood pressure. Differentiate between systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

b. What is the normal blood pressure value for an adult?

Describe the neural mechanisms responsible for controlling blood pressure.

How are nutrients, wastes, and respiratory gases transported to and from the blood and tissue spaces?

a. What blood vessels contribute to the formation of the hepatic portal circulation?

b. Why is a portal circulation a 'strange' circulation

Physiologists often consider capillaries and postcapillary venules together.

a. What functions do these vessels share?

b. Structurally, how do they differ?

Distinguish between elastic arteries, muscular arteries, and arterioles relative to location, histology, and functional adaptations.

Write an equation showing the relationship between total peripheral resistance, blood flow, and blood pressure.

Explain the reasons for the observed changes in blood flow velocity in the different regions of the circulation.

How does the control of blood flow to the skin for the purpose of regulating body temperature differ from the control of nutrient blood flow to skin cells?

Describe neural and chemical (both systemic and local) effects exerted on the blood vessels when you are fleeing from a mugger. (Be careful, this is more involved than it appears at first glance.)

A 60-year-old man is unable to walk more than 100 yards without experiencing severe pain in his left leg; the pain is relieved by resting for 5–10 minutes. He is told that the arteries of his leg are becoming occluded with fatty material and is advised to have the sympathetic nerves serving that body region severed. Explain how such surgery might help to relieve this man's problem.

Your friend Jillian, who knows little about science, is reading a magazine article about a patient who had an 'aneurysm at the base of his brain that suddenly grew much larger.' The surgeons' first goal was to 'keep it from rupturing,' and the second goal was to 'relieve the pressure on the brain stem and cranial nerves.' The surgeons were able to 'replace the aneurysm with a section of plastic tubing,' so the patient recovered. Jillian asks you what all this means. Explain.

The Agawam High School band is playing some lively marches while the coaches are giving pep talks to their respective football squads. Although it is September, it is unseasonably hot (88°F/31°C) and the band uniforms are wool. Suddenly Ryan, the tuba player, becomes light-headed and faints. Explain his fainting in terms of vascular events.

When we are cold or the external temperature is low, most venous blood returning from the distal part of the arm travels in the deep veins where it picks up heat (by countercurrent exchange) from the nearby brachial artery en route. However, when we are hot, and especially during exercise, venous return from the distal arm travels in the superficial veins and those veins tend to bulge superficially in a person who is working out. Explain why venous return takes a different route in the second situation.

Edema is a common clinical problem. On your first day of a clinical rotation, you encounter four patients who have edema for different reasons. Your challenge is to explain the edema in terms of either an increase or a decrease in one of the four pressures that causes bulk flow.

(1) First you encounter Mrs. Taylor in the medical unit awaiting a liver transplant. What is the connection between liver failure and her edema?

(2) Next in the obstetric ward, Mrs. So is experiencing premature labor and has edema in her legs. Which bulk flow pressures might be altered here?

(3) In emergency, Mr. Herrera is in anaphylactic shock. His capillaries have become leaky, allowing plasma proteins that are normally kept inside the blood vessels to escape into the interstitial fluid. Which of the bulk flow pressures is altered in this case and in what direction is the change?

(4) Finally, in oncology Mrs. O'Leary is recovering from breast cancer surgery. Her right breast and all of her axillary lymph nodes were removed. Unfortunately, this severed most of the lymphatic vessels draining her right arm. You notice that this arm is quite edematous. Why? Mrs. O'Leary is given a compression sleeve to wear on this arm to help relieve the edema. Which of the bulk flow pressures will be altered by the compression sleeve?