1. Description of arteries
   1. Conducting
      1. arteries and branches coming off from the heart
   2. Distributing
      1. arteries supplying main organs
   3. Resistance vessels
2. Functional description of blood vessels
   1. resistance vessels
      1. arteries but mostly arterioles
   2. exchange vessels
      1. small venules, venous sinusoids and capillaries
         1. allows exchange between blood and interstitial fluid
         2. constitutes microvascular bed
            1. =structural basis of microcirculation
      2. thin walls
   3. capacitance vessels
      1. veins
      2. compliance = able to stretch walls of vessels
      3. large volume, low pressure
      4. most of the blood in CV system is here
3. Heart
   1. arteries
      1. small arteries
         1. arterioles
            1. capillaries
            2. venules
            3. small veins
            4. vena cavae
   2. 2.5
      1. 20
         1. 40
            1. 2500
            2. 250
            3. 80
            4. 8
4. Histology of blood vessels
   1. Tunica Intima
      1. innermost layer
      2. main component, endothelium
         1. lines entire vascular system including the heart and lymphatics
   2. Tunica Media
      1. consists of muscle tissue, elastic fibres and collagen
         1. proportion of each depending on type of vessel
      2. thick in arteries
      3. absent in capillaries
      4. thin in veins
   3. Tunica Adventitia
      1. outermost layer of tissue
      2. consists of connective tissue, nerves, vessel capillaries
      3. connects vessels to surrounding tissue
   4. Topic