Arteries in the context of "Vascular disease"

Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system transporting blood in animal bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the tissues of a body, and also transport waste products and carbon dioxide away from the tissues. Some tissues – such as cartilage, epithelium, and the lens and cornea of the eye – are not supplied with blood vessels, so are termed avascular.

There are five types of blood vessels: the arteries, which carry the blood away from the heart; the arterioles; the capillaries, where the exchange of water and chemicals between the blood and tissues occurs; the venules; and the veins, which carry blood from the capillaries back towards the heart.

In placental mammals, the umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or funiculus umbilicalis) is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. During prenatal development, the umbilical cord is physiologically and genetically part of the fetus and (in humans) normally contains two arteries (the umbilical arteries) and one vein (the umbilical vein), buried within Wharton's jelly. The umbilical vein supplies the fetus with oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood from the placenta. Conversely, the fetal heart pumps low-oxygen, nutrient-depleted blood through the umbilical arteries back to the placenta.

Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by development of abnormalities called lesions in walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by elevated blood levels of cholesterol. These lesions may lead to narrowing of the arterial walls due to buildup of atheromatous plaques.

At the onset, there are usually no symptoms, but if they develop, symptoms generally begin around middle age. In severe cases, it can result in coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, or kidney disorders, depending on the body part(s) in which the affected arteries are located.

The coronary arteries are the arterial blood vessels of coronary circulation, which transport oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. The heart requires a continuous supply of oxygen to function and survive, much like any other tissue or organ of the body.

The coronary arteries wrap around the entire heart. The two main branches are the left coronary artery and right coronary artery. The arteries can additionally be categorized based on the area of the heart for which they provide circulation. These categories are called epicardial (above the epicardium, or the outermost tissue of the heart) and microvascular (close to the endocardium, or the innermost tissue of the heart).

Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are infections of blood caused by blood-borne pathogens. The detection of microbes in the blood (most commonly accomplished by blood cultures) is always abnormal. A bloodstream infection is different from sepsis, which is characterized by severe inflammatory or immune responses of the host organism to pathogens.

Bacteria can enter the bloodstream as a severe complication of infections (like pneumonia or meningitis), during surgery (especially when involving mucous membranes such as the gastrointestinal tract), or due to catheters and other foreign bodies entering the arteries or veins (including during intravenous drug abuse). Transient bacteremia can result after dental procedures or brushing of teeth.

Osteogenesis imperfecta (IPA: /ˌɒstioʊˈdʒɛnəsɪs ˌɪmpɜːrˈfɛktə/; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other organs—may be mild to severe. Symptoms found in various types of OI include whites of the eye (sclerae) that are blue instead, short stature, loose joints, hearing loss, breathing problems and problems with the teeth (dentinogenesis imperfecta). Potentially life-threatening complications, all of which become more common in more severe OI, include: tearing (dissection) of the major arteries, such as the aorta; pulmonary valve insufficiency secondary to distortion of the ribcage; and basilar invagination.

The underlying mechanism is usually a problem with connective tissue due to a lack of, or poorly formed, type I collagen. In more than 90% of cases, OI occurs due to mutations in the COL1A1 or COL1A2 genes. These mutations may be hereditary in an autosomal dominant manner but may also occur spontaneously (de novo). There are four clinically defined types: type I, the least severe; type IV, moderately severe; type III, severe and progressively deforming; and type II, perinatally lethal. As of September 2021, 19 different genes are known to cause the 21 documented genetically defined types of OI, many of which are extremely rare and have only been documented in a few individuals. Diagnosis is often based on symptoms and may be confirmed by collagen biopsy or DNA sequencing.

Cerebrovascular disease includes a variety of medical conditions that affect the blood vessels of the brain and the cerebral circulation. Arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the brain are often damaged or deformed in these disorders. The most common presentation of cerebrovascular disease is an ischemic stroke or mini-stroke and sometimes a hemorrhagic stroke. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is the most important contributing risk factor for stroke and cerebrovascular diseases as it can change the structure of blood vessels and result in atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis narrows blood vessels in the brain, resulting in decreased cerebral perfusion. Other risk factors that contribute to stroke include smoking and diabetes. Narrowed cerebral arteries can lead to ischemic stroke, but continually elevated blood pressure can also cause tearing of vessels, leading to a hemorrhagic stroke.

A stroke usually presents with an abrupt onset of a neurologic deficit – such as hemiplegia (one-sided weakness), numbness, aphasia (language impairment), or ataxia (loss of coordination) – attributable to a focal vascular lesion. The neurologic symptoms manifest within seconds because neurons need a continual supply of nutrients, including glucose and oxygen, that are provided by the blood. Therefore, if blood supply to the brain is impeded, injury and energy failure is rapid.