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Barbara is a 43-year-old patient who has been diagnosed with metastatic inflammatory breast cancer. To facilitate her ongoing chemotherapy, her physician implanted a port attached to a central venous catheter. At a recent checkup, she reported feeling restless and complained that the site of the catheter had become uncomfortable. After removing the dressing, the physician observed that the surgical site appeared red and was warm to the touch, suggesting a localized infection. Barbara’s was also running a fever of 38.2 °C (100.8 °F). Her physician treated the affected area with a topical antiseptic and applied a fresh dressing. She also prescribed a course of the antibiotic oxacillin.
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The circulatory and lymphatic systems are networks of vessels and a pump that transport blood and lymph, respectively, throughout the body. When these systems are infected with a microorganism, the network of vessels can facilitate the rapid dissemination of the microorganism to other regions of the body, sometimes with serious results. In this section, we will examine some of the key anatomical features of the circulatory and lymphatic systems, as well as general signs and symptoms of infection.
The circulatory (or cardiovascular) system is a closed network of organs and vessels that moves blood around the body ( [link] ). The primary purposes of the circulatory system are to deliver nutrients, immune factors, and oxygen to tissues and to carry away waste products for elimination. The heart is a four-chambered pump that propels the blood throughout the body. Deoxygenated blood enters the right atrium through the superior vena cava and the inferior vena cava after returning from the body. The blood next passes through the tricuspid valve to enter the right ventricle. When the heart contracts, the blood from the right ventricle is pumped through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs. There, the blood is oxygenated at the alveoli and returns to the heart through the pulmonary veins. The oxygenated blood is received at the left atrium and proceeds through the mitral valve to the left ventricle. When the heart contracts, the oxygenated blood is pumped throughout the body via a series of thick-walled vessels called arteries. The first and largest artery is called the aorta. The arteries sequentially branch and decrease in size (and are called arterioles) until they end in a network of smaller vessels called capillaries. The capillary beds are located in the interstitial spaces within tissues and release nutrients, immune factors, and oxygen to those tissues. The capillaries connect to a series of vessels called venules, which increase in size to form the vein s. The veins join together into larger vessels as they transfer blood back to the heart. The largest veins, the superior and inferior vena cava, return the blood to the right atrium.
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