RT Book, Section
A1 Naeije, Robert
A2 Grippi, Michael A.
A2 Antin-Ozerkis, Danielle E.
A2 Dela Cruz, Charles S.
A2 Kotloff, Robert M.
A2 Kotton, Camille Nelson
A2 Pack, Allan I.
SR Print(0)
ID 1194946308
T1 The Pulmonary Circulation
T2 Fishman’s Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders, 6e
YR 2023
FD 2023
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781260473988
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1194946308
RD 2024/04/23
AB The  discovery  of  the  pulmonary  circulation  was  reported  in  the  13th  century  by  Ibn  al-Nafis  (1213–1288)  in  the  “Commentary  on  Anatomy  in  Avicenna’s  Canon”  and,  probably  independently,  in  the  16th  century  by  Michael  Servetus  (1511–1553)  in  the  “The  Restoration  of  Christianity.”1  The  pulmonary  circulation  as  a  separate  high-flow  low-pressure  system  is  the  end  result  of  an  evolutionary  process  aimed  at  the  optimization  of  gas  exchange  of  endothermic  birds  and  mammals.2  Evolution  from  ancestors  of  fishes  to  amphibians,  reptiles,  and  finally  birds  and  mammals  has  led  to  progressively  greater  oxygen  consumption  requiring  thinner  pulmonary  blood  gas  barrier.  The  alveolo-capillary  membrane  in  mammals  is  a  vulnerable  structure  only  0.3  µm  thick.  Preservation  of  the  integrity  of  this  barrier  requires  complete  separation  of  the  pulmonary  circulation  from  the  systemic  circulatory  systems,  which  is  accompanied  by  a  progressive  unloading  and  reshaping  of  the  right  ventricle  as  a  thin-walled  flow  generator.