Compliance

Definition

Compliance in the context of cardiovascular physiology refers to the ability of blood vessels, particularly arteries and veins, to expand in response to increased blood pressure or volume. It is a measure of the distensibility of a vessel, indicating how easily it can accommodate changes in blood volume without a large increase in pressure.

Related terms

Blood Pressure:

The force exerted by circulating blood on the walls of the body's arteries, vital for maintaining tissue perfusion.

Arteries:

Blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body's tissues; their compliance affects blood pressure and flow.

Veins: Vessels that return deoxygenated blood back to the heart; they have greater compliance than arteries, allowing them to store larger volumes of blood