About Blood Vessel Trees

Vascular networking supplies blood to all parts of the human body. Blood pumped from the heart flows through the body like branches of a tree; thus the vascular system is sometimes referred to as blood vessel trees.

Comparing Blood Vessel Tree to Natural Tree

• Considering that the heart is to the circulatory system what the roots are to a tree, picture that oxygenated blood returns to the heart in the same manner that roots draw water up to the tree trunk; then the heart pumps the blood through the arteries or branches, into extremities, abdomen and head, and then on to the smaller capillaries in the skin and other cells.

What Surgeons Need to Know

• Surgeons must be aware of each branch and branch point of the tree near or on which they operate. Unfortunately, like all trees in the forest, not all humans' blood vessel trees are configured the same.

Sizes of Blood Vessel Trees

• Blood vessel trees of various sizes reside in the body. The largest tree supplies the heart, lungs, nervous system and sensory controls. One of the smallest is housed in the eye.