Description
The pulmonary arteries carry deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the lungs, where they eventually form and extensive network of pulmonary capillaries which undergo gaseous exchange. The newly oxygenated blood returns to the left atrium of the heart via four pulmonary veins.
The pulmonary veins drain the pulmonary capillary networks. They first coalesce into intrasegmental and intersegmental tributaries, which join forming segmental veins that form a single lobar vein. The lobar veins, three on the right and two on the left, eventually form the four pulmonary veins that drain into the left atrium of the heart. These are the right and left superior and inferior pulmonary veins.
The right superior pulmonary vein drains the superior lobe while the right inferior pulmonary vein drains the middle and inferior lobes of the right lung. On the left side, the left superior and inferior pulmonary veins drain the superior and inferior lobes of the left lung respectively.
The bronchial veins are branches of the systemic circulation and drain the lung tissue itself. They are not to be confused with the pulmonary veins.
Related parts of the anatomy
List of Clinical Correlates
- Pulmonary vein atresia
