What is the difference between Major Circulation and Minor Circulation?
The major circulation, also known as systemic circulation, is the path that blood takes from the heart to the rest of the body. It receives this name since it is the one that travels the greatest distance within the body. Its function is to feed all the tissues of the body.
On the other hand, the minor or pulmonary circulation is responsible for transporting deoxygenated blood full of carbon dioxide to the lungs.
Major Circulation |
Minor Circulation |
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| Definition | Circuit of blood circulation that distributes oxygenated blood, from the heart and to the rest of the body. | Instead, the minor circulation, also known as pulmonary circulation, is the circuit of blood circulation that carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs and back to the heart but this time with oxygenated blood. |
| Functions |
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| Volume | 84% of total blood volume: 64% in veins, 20% in arteries | 16% of the total blood volume: 7% in the heart and 9% in the lungs |
| Tours | Heart (left ventricle) – aorta artery – peripheral arteries – capillaries. | Heart (right ventricle) – pulmonary arteries – alveolar capillaries – pulmonary veins – heart |
| major veins |
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| Blood pressure | Systolic blood pressure: 120mm Hg.
Diastolic blood pressure: 80mm Hg. |
Systolic pulmonary arterial pressure: 25mm Hg.
Pulmonary arterial pressure: 8mm Hg. |
| residence time of blood in the capillaries | between 1 and 3 seconds | 0.8 seconds |