The characteristic of the pulmonary circulation:: (A) High resistance, high compliance, (B) Low resistance, low compliance, (C) High resistance, low compliance, (D) Low resistance, high compliance
Answer is D. Pulmonary aery pressures are reflective of RV pressures .Pulmonary circulation is low pressure, low resistance circulation as compared to systemic circulation. Pulmonary vessels are about 24 times more compliant compared to their systemic counterpas. Pulmonary circulation, in a sho route, has to accommodate large quantities of blood. Due to their high compliance and large amounts of blood accommodated within them, lungs are called 'reservoir of blood'. At any given time, lungs accommodate about 15% of the total blood volume.