Circulation of the blood through the heart

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A Moment in History

Georg Eduard Von Rindfleisch
(1836 – 1908)

German pathologist and histologist of Bavarian nobility ancestry. Rindfleisch studied medicine in Würzburg, Berlin, and Heidelberg, earning his MD in 1859 with the thesis “De Vasorum Genesi” (on the generation of vessels) under the tutelage of Rudolf Virchow (1821 - 1902). He then continued as a assistant to Virchow in a newly founded institute in Berlin. He then moved to Breslau in 1861 as an assistant to Rudolf Heidenhain (1834–1897), becoming a professor of pathological anatomy. In 1865 he became full professor in Bonn and in 1874 in Würzburg, where a new pathological institute was built according to his design (completed in 1878), where he worked until his retirement in 1906.

He was the first to describe the inflammatory background of multiple sclerosis in 1863, when he noted that demyelinated lesions have in their center small vessels that are surrounded by a leukocyte inflammatory infiltrate.

After extensive investigations, he suspected an infectious origin of tuberculosis - even before Robert Koch's detection of the tuberculosis bacillus in 1892. Rindfleisch 's special achievement is the description of the morphologically conspicuous macrophages in typhoid inflammation. His distinction between myocardial infarction and myocarditis in 1890 is also of lasting importance.

Associated eponyms

"Rindfleisch's folds": Usually a single semilunar fold of the serous surface of the pericardium around the origin of the aorta. Also known as the plica semilunaris aortæ.

"Rindfleisch's cells": Historical (and obsolete) name for eosinophilic leukocytes.

Personal note: G. Rindfleisch’s book “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” 2nd edition (1873) is now part of my library. This book was translated from German to French by Dr. Frédéric Gross (1844-1927) , Associate Professor of the Medicine Faculty in Nancy, France. The book is dedicated to Dr. Theodore Billroth (1829-1894), an important surgeon whose pioneering work on subtotal gastrectomies paved the way for today’s robotic bariatric surgery. Dr. Miranda.

Sources:
1. "Stedmans Medical Eponyms" Forbis, P.; Bartolucci, SL; 1998 Williams and Wilkins
2. "Rindfleisch, Georg Eduard von (bayerischer Adel?)" Deutsche Biographie
3. "The pathology of multiple sclerosis and its evolution" Lassmann H. (1999) Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 354 (1390): 1635–40.
4. “Traité D' Histologie Pathologique” G.E.
Rindfleisch 2nd Ed (1873) Ballieres et Fils. Paris, Translated by F Gross

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Circulation of the blood through the heart

Published: Wednesday, September 24, 2014 07:00 | Written by: Efrain A. Miranda, Ph.D. | Hits: 5013

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Although blood circulation is one constant circle of flow, it consists of two subsystems: pulmonary and systemic circulation mediated by the heart. Within the systemic circulation there are other subsystems: coronary, portal (hepatic), and renal.

Deoxygenated blood comes into the right atrium of the heart. The blood coming from the body does so by way of the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava. The blood coming from the heart does so by way of the coronary sinus, the anterior coronary veins, and the venae cordis minimae. Thus, the right atrium receives the blood return from the whole body, including the heart.

From the right atrium, the deoxygenated blood passes through the tricuspid valve (one of the two atrioventricular valves) into the right ventricle. Upon contraction of the right ventricle (ventricular systole) blood is propelled through the pulmonary (sometimes called pulmonic) valve into the pulmonary trunk. The pulmonary trunk divides into a right and a left pulmonary artery, each of which enter a lung, thus starting pulmonary circulation.

Within the lung the arteries divide until they form a minute capillary meshwork around the alveolar sacs. At this point the deoxygenated blood discharges its CO₂ and gains O₂, becoming oxygenated blood which converges back towards the heart by way of pulmonary veins.

The oxygenated blood enters the left atrium by way of the four pulmonary veins. It passes into the left ventricle through the mitral valve (also known as the bicuspid valve), then it exits through the aortic valve and into the aorta. This starts systemic circulation.

The aorta and its branches provide oxygenated blood to all the body. Once the blood is deoxygenated, it comes back to the right atrium of the heart where the cycle starts again.

As a side note, all the vessels that enter or leave the heart are known as the great vessels. How many are the great vessels? For the answer, click here.