04.01 Introduction

The cardiovascular system is important to transport blood, nutrients, blood gases and wastes around the body. It is made up of the heart and blood vessels. The heart pumps the blood to the lungs in thepulmonary circuit for gas exchange to occur between the capillaries and the lung tissue – oxygen is taken up by the blood and carbon dioxide is released into the lungs. The heart distributes the oxygenated bloodto all the body tissues and organs via the systemic circuit (Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.1 The pulmonary and systemic circulations (Copyright, QUT)