Question

Beginning with the aorta, what is the general arrangement of vessel classes of the systemic circuit, ending with the superior and inferior venae cavae.

Answer 1

Beginning in the right atrium: right atrium, through atrioventricular valve aka tricuspid valve to right ventricle, pulmonary semilunar valve, pulmonary artery, pulmonary capillaries (at this point blood is oxygenated by the alveoli), pulmonary veins, left atrium, mitral atrioventricular valve aka bicuspid valve, left ventricle, aortic semilunar valve, aorta, arteries, arterioles, capillaries (again, capillaries are where the oxygen exchange occurs, deoxygenating the blood once more), venules, veins, inferior and superior vena cava (inferior feeds from the lower body, superior from the upper) back into the right atrium, where the cycle starts again!

This is a simplistic, order-of-operations listing, and does not include the oxygen exchange process or the specific names of the different blood vessels apart from the primary ones near the heart. However, it should be noted that as a rule arteries go from the heart and veins go to the heart. It is not true that ALL veins carry deoxygenated blood and ALL arteries carry oxygenated blood; the pulmonary circulation system turns that on its head with the pulmonary arteries and veins.