Atelectasis (/ËÃ¦táµ»ËlÉktÉsáµ»s/ uses combining forms of atel- + ectasis, from Greek: á¼ÏÎµÎ»Î®Ï, incomplete + á¼ÎºÏÎ±ÏÎ¹Ï, extension) is the collapse or closure of a lung resulting in reduced or absent gas exchange.
A single capillary is so small that it allows only one blood cell to flow through it at a time. The capillary walls are also very small, only one cell thick. These thin walls easily allow water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other nutrient and waste substances to exchange between blood cells and the surrounding tissue.
Capillaries are vessels of small diameter (4 to 10 microns) whose wall is reduced to an attenuated endothelium surrounded by a basement membrane, a few pericytes, and connective tissue. 1  The narrow capillary lumen allows passage of red blood cells in single file.