CAIE IGCSE Biology 9.3.4 Artery & Vein Adaptations to Pressure
Practise explaining how arterial and venous walls, lumens and valves suit the blood pressures they carry.
- Syllabus
- 2026–2028
- Course
- Biology 0610
Practise explaining how arterial and venous walls, lumens and valves suit the blood pressures they carry.
Fig. 1.2 shows the pressure of blood flowing through different blood vessels as it travels around the body. (Venules are narrow vessels that connect capillaries to veins.)

Fig. 1.2
Using the information in Fig. 1.2, explain the structural adaptations of arteries and veins.
any four from: arteries:
1 thick / muscular, wall to withstand the high blood pressure ;
2 wall contains elastic tissue to stretch and recoil ;
3 (relatively) narrow / small, lumen maintains (high) blood pressure ; veins:
4 (relatively) large / wide, lumen to provide less resistance for blood flow / AW (at low pressure) ;
5 large lumen to carry larger volume of blood ;
6 valves to prevent backflow (caused by low pressure) ;