Description
As the pulmonary trunk extends posteriorly to the left of the ascending aorta, it bifurcates into right and left pulmonary arteries in the concavity of the aortic arch.
The right pulmonary artery travels under the aortic arch towards the hilum of the right lung accompanied by the right main bronchus. As it emerges from behind the superior vena cava, it gives off a small superior lobar artery. The right pulmonary artery continues to descend, accompanied by the intermediate bronchus, and at the point where the horizontal fissure meets the oblique fissure, it divides into middle and inferior lobar arteries.
The branches of the right pulmonary artery include the superior, middle, and inferior lobar arteries. The superior lobar artery gives rise to apical, anterior, and posterior segmental arteries of the superior lobe; the middle lobar artery provides the medial and lateral segmental arteries of the middle lobe; the inferior lobar arteries give off the superior and basal segmental arteries.
The right pulmonary artery provides the alveolar structures in each bronchopulmonary segment of the right lung with deoxygenated blood. It is the bronchial arteries from the systemic circulation that provide oxygenated blood to the tissue of the lungs.
Related parts of the anatomy
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Right Pulmonary Artery
The right pulmonic recess is a shallow recess bounded by the inferior wall of the proximal right pulmonary artery and the superior vena cava.
