Pulmonary vein

The pulmonary veins are the

Occasionally the three lobar veins on the right side remain separate, and not infrequently the two left lobar veins end by a common opening into the left atrium. Therefore, the number of pulmonary veins opening into the left atrium can vary between three and five in the healthy population.

The two left lobar veins may be united as a single pulmonary vein in about 25% of enssaam

the two right veins may be united in about 3%.^[2]

Function

The pulmonary veins play an essential role in respiration, by receiving blood that has been oxygenated in the alveoli and returning it to the left atrium.

Clinical significance

As part of the pulmonary circulation they carry oxygenated blood back to the heart, as opposed to the veins of the

On chest X-ray, the diameters of pulmonary veins increases from upper to lower lobes, from 3 mm at the first intercoastal space, to 6 mm just above the diaphragm.^[3]

A rare genetic defect of the pulmonary veins can cause them to drain into the pulmonary circulation in whole or in part, this is known as a total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (or drainage), or partial anomalous pulmonary connection, respectively.

Additional images

• 
  Computed tomography

  of a normal lung, with different levels of pulmonary veins.
• 
  Bronchial anatomy
• 
  Transverse section of thorax, showing relations of pulmonary artery.
• 
  Pulmonary vessels, seen in a dorsal view of the heart and lungs.

See also

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 642 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)