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Above is a colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) through a small elastic artery from the lung. The lumen contains red blood cells (yellow) and platelets (red). In the wall of the blood vessel, a clear internal elastic lamina (pale green) is visible. This elasticity gives rise to the Windkessel effect.
See More Elastic Artery Cross-sections
This is a term used in medicine to account for the shape of the arterial blood pressure waveform in terms of the interaction between the stroke volume and the compliance of the aorta and large elastic arteries. The Windkessel effect helps in damping the fluctuation in blood pressure (pulse pressure) over the cardiac cycle. The walls of large elastic arteries (like the aorta, carotid, and pulmonary arteries) contain elastic fibers, formed of elastin. These arteries distend when the blood pressure rises during systole (ventricular compression) and recoil when the blood pressure falls during diastole, thus creating a nearly continuous peripheral blood flow.
See Hardening of the Arteries
The Windkessel effect becomes diminished with age as the elastic arteries become less compliant, termed hardening of the arteries or arteriosclerosis, probably secondary to fragmentation and loss of elastin. The reduction in the Windkessel effect results in increased pulse pressure and elevated systolic pressure for a given stroke volume. Elevated systolic pressure (hypertension) predicts myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure and a variety of other cardiovascular diseases.
Image above © Steve Gschmeissner / Science Source
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