Respiration physiology
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Respiration physiology · Feb 1992
ReviewHemodynamics of vascular 'waterfall': is the analogy justified?
The concept of 'vascular waterfall' has been used for collapsible vessels in different hemodynamic states which have little similarity to each other from a dynamic standpoint. Examples include (a) flow through large systemic veins entering the thorax, (b) flow through microvessels, such as pulmonary, cardiac, hepatic, cerebral, and (c) flow through the jugular vein of the giraffe. ⋯ Hence, the term waterfall as a metaphor is misleading and unjustified. We suggest that the use of the term be discontinued for describing vascular dynamics.