Delayed compliance in external jugular vein of the dog

¹ Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi

The time course and magnitude of delayed compliance in a typical large vein, the external jugular vein of the dog, were studied in an effort to determine whether or not delayed compliance in the large veins is an important factor in allowing the circulatory system to accommodate to large changes in blood volume. These studies showed that essentially all delayed compliance is complete within approximately 20 min and that its magnitude was only one-third to one-fifth as great as the immediate elastic compliance of the vessel. Therefore, it was concluded that delayed compliance in the large veins plays little role in allowing the circulatory system to accommodate itself to large changes in blood volume, and that most of this accommodation must occur in other vascular beds.

Key Words: venous pressure volume

Submitted on February 20, 1964