RT Journal
T1 ARe the capillaries contractile?
JF Journal of the American Medical Association
JO Journal of the American Medical Association
YR 1919
FD August 30
VO 73
IS 9
SP 693
OP 693
DO 10.1001/jama.1919.02610350041015
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1919.02610350041015
AB In ultimate analysis, the nutritive functions of the tissues are closely dependent on the capillary circulation within them. It is only through the medium traversing the smallest vessels of the circulatory system that the living cells secure the oxygen and energy-yielding compounds, on the one hand, and on the other divest themselves of the products which may represent waste of valuable secretions. There exists a general recognition of the fact that the passage of blood through these minute branches leading from the greater highways of transport varies greatly, the rate of flow being very inconstant. The explanation usually given is that, since the capillaries are assumed to be passive structures, these variations in flow within them are probably associated with alterations in the vasomotor conditions of the small arteries or arterioles supplying them. In other words, the rate of flow in the capillary circulation is determined, according to the most