Vein cells called tunica intima. The precise location of veins varies much more from person to person than that of arteries. Veins serve to return blood from organs to the heart. Veins are also called "capacitance vessels" because most of the blood volume (60%) is contained within veins. In systemic circulation oxygenated blood is pumped by the left ventricle through the arteries to the muscles and organs of the body, where its nutrients and gases are exchanged at capillaries. After taking up cellular waste and carbon dioxide in capillaries, blood is channeled through vessels that converge with one another to form
Dextro-Transposition of the great arteries to stretch open a stenotic vessel; this relieves restricted blood flow, which could otherwise lead to congestive heart failure ( CHF ). An endovascular stent is sometimes placed in a stenotic vessel immediately following a balloon angioplasty to maintain the widened passage. Angiography involves using the catheter to release a contrast medium into the chambers and/or vessels of the heart; this process facilitates examining the flow of blood through the chambers during an echocardiogram, or shows the vessels clearly on a chest x-ray, MRI, or CT scan - this is of particular importance, as the coronary arteries must be carefully