Pulmonary vs Systemic Circulation
The heart is located between two lungs, and pumps blood to the system of blood vessels. Heart consists of four chambers: two upper atria and lower two ventricles. Walls of two atria are thinner than the walls of two ventricles. The right side of the heart deals with the deoxygenate blood, and left side of the heart is oxygenated blood. The right atrium receives the deoxygenate blood from the body system, and left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs. The right ventricle receives blood from the right atrium, and it pumps deoxygenate blood into lungs. The left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and it pumps it into the left ventricle. The left ventricle pumps it through out the body. The circulation of blood through the lungs is called pulmonary circulation, and the circulation around the body is called systemic circulation.
Pulmonary Circulation
The deoxygenated blood circulated through out the body enters the right atrium. Atrium pushes blood by contracting muscle through the tricuspid valve, which is one way opening valve, and then right ventricle is filled with blood. The contraction of ventricle closes the tricuspid valve and then it opens the pulmonary valve. Blood then enters the left and right lungs through the pulmonary artery. In lung capillaries, oxygen is exchanged with the carbon dioxide through the thin cell walls of capillaries during the respiration. This exchange of gases occurs due to the diffusion.
The oxygenated blood then enters to the left atrium through pulmonary veins then to the left ventricle. It enters through the one way opening valve called bicuspid. Jointly, these two valves are known as atrioventricular valves.
Systemic Circulation
The oxygenated blood, which went through the lungs, then enters the aorta through the aortic valve. The contraction of the left ventricle pumps the blood to the body through the aortic valve with high pressure. So, left ventricle needs to pump blood with more pressure than the right ventricle. This difference makes the thickness of wall of the left ventricle thicker than the right ventricle.
Aorta is divided into several branches; those branches have been further divided into capillaries. The oxygenated blood then enters the overall body by entering the capillaries. It releases nutrients and oxygen to cells. These capillaries then merging into venules and further merging into veins. Veins, which come from the upper part of the body, make superior vena cava and veins come from the lower part of the body make the inferior vena cava. Both these veins release the deoxygenated blood into the right atrium.
What is the difference between Pulmonary Circulation and Systemic Circulation?
- The circulation of blood through the lungs is called pulmonary circulation, and the circulation around the body is called systemic circulation.
- In the pulmonary circulation system, carbon dioxide in deoxygenated blood is exchanged with oxygen in the lungs and release to the body while in the systemic circulation oxygenated blood flows to the organs and oxygen is exchanged with carbon dioxide.
- Pulmonary system deals with atrioventricular valves, whereas systemic circulation does not.
- Pulmonary system starts with the right atrium and ends with left ventricle whereas systemic circulation starts aorta of the left ventricle and ends with the right atrium.
- Systemic circulation consists of veins called superior vena cava and inferior vena cava, which carry blood to the heart, and arteries which carry blood away from the heart. They have been branched into many. But pulmonary system has two blood vessels which are branched only into lungs.
- In the pulmonary system, only gas is exchanged whereas, in the systemic circulation, nutrients and gas are exchanged.