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Blood flows back to the heart in the systemic deep veins, with the flow of blood maintained by one-way valves in the deep veins, superficial veins, and in the perforator veins. [20] The venous valves serve to prevent regurgitation (backflow) due to the low pressure of veins, and the pull of gravity. [1]
Blood is flowing into the right atrium from the superior and inferior venae cavae and the coronary sinus. Blood flows into the left atrium from the four pulmonary veins. The two atrioventricular valves, the tricuspid and mitral valves, are both open, so blood flows unimpeded from the atria and into the ventricles.
Anastomoses provide alternative routes for blood to flow through in case of blockages. Veins can have valves that prevent the backflow of the blood that was being pumped against gravity by the surrounding muscles. [8] In humans, arteries do not have valves except for the two 'arteries' that originate from the heart's ventricles. [9]
The converse argument is that generally artery walls are thicker and more muscular than veins as the blood passing through is of a higher pressure. This means that it would take longer for any oxygen to diffuse through to the cells in the tunica adventitia and the tunica media, causing them to need a more extensive vasa vasorum.
Veins have a much higher compliance than arteries (largely due to their thinner walls.) Veins which are abnormally compliant can be associated with edema. Pressure stockings are sometimes used to externally reduce compliance, and thus keep blood from pooling in the legs.
These types of blood vessels allow red and white blood cells (7.5 μm – 25 μm diameter) and various serum proteins to pass, aided by a discontinuous basal lamina. These capillaries lack pinocytotic vesicles , and therefore use gaps present in cell junctions to permit transfer between endothelial cells, and hence across the membrane.
The tunica intima (Neo-Latin "inner coat"), or intima for short, is the innermost tunica (layer) of an artery or vein.It is made up of one layer of endothelial cells (and macrophages in areas of disturbed blood flow), [1] [2] and is supported by an internal elastic lamina.
The rest comes from the partially deoxygenated blood from the portal vein. The liver consumes about 20% of the total body oxygen when at rest. That is why the total liver blood flow is quite high, at about 1 litre a minute and up to two litres a minute. That is on average one fourth of the average cardiac output at rest.