Collateral circulation is circulation in an area of tissue or an organ with a number of different pathways for blood to reach it. This is often as a result of anastamoses - branches formed between adjacent blood vessels.
An example of the usefulness of collateral circulation is a systemic thrombo-embolism in cats. This is when a thrombus lodges above the external iliac artery(Common Iliac Artery), blocking the external and internal iliac arteries and effectively shutting off all blood supply to the hind leg. Even though the main vessels to the leg are blocked, enough blood can get to the tissues in the leg via the collateral circulation in order to keep them alive.
Another example (in Humans) is where a person suffers an acute Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack), collateral circulation in the Heart tissue will sometimes by pass the blockage in the main artery and supply enough oxygenated blood to enable the Cardiac tissue to survive and recover.
Other articles related to "circulation, collateral, collateral circulation":
... Total Assets 2914.51 LIABILITIES Currency in Circulation 1031.30 Reverse repurchase agreements 68.09 Deposits 91.12 Term Deposits 0 U.S ... total value of all dollar bills in existence over $176 billion is held by the Fed (not in circulation) and the "net" figure of $863 billion represents the total face value of ... also indicates which assets are held as collateral against Federal Reserve Notes ...
... The blood vessels develop collateral circulation around the blocked vessels to compensate for the blockage, but the collateral vessels are small, weak, and prone to ... On X-rays, these collateral vessels have the appearance of a "puff of smoke" ("もやもや (moyamoya)" in Japanese) ... When the internal carotid artery becomes completely blocked, the fine collateral circulation that it supplies is obliterated ...
... After ligature of the common carotid, the collateral circulation can be perfectly established, by the free communication which exists between the carotid arteries of opposite ...
Famous quotes containing the word circulation:
“The denunciation of the young is a necessary part of the hygiene of older people, and greatly assists the circulation of their blood.”
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946)