| Artery: Bronchial artery | |
|---|---|
| Bronchial artery labeled at center right. | |
| Latin | rami bronchiales partis thoracicae aortae, arteriae bronchiales |
| Gray's | subject #153 600 |
| Supplies | lungs |
| Source | thoracic aorta |
| Vein | Bronchial veins |
In human anatomy, the bronchial arteries help supply the lungs with nutrition and oxygenated blood. Although there is much variation, there are usually two bronchial arteries that run to the left lung, and one to the right lung.
Contents |
The left bronchial arteries (superior & inferior) usually arise directly from the thoracic aorta.
The single right bronchial artery usually arises from one of the following:
The bronchial arteries supply blood to the bronchi and connective tissue of the lungs. They travel with and branch with the bronchi, ending about at the level of the respiratory bronchioles. They anastomose with the branches of the pulmonary arteries, and together, they supply the visceral pleura of the lung in the process.
Note that much of the blood supplied by the bronchial arteries is returned via the pulmonary veins rather than the bronchial veins.
Each bronchial artery also has a branch that supplies the esophagus.
It is easy to confuse the bronchial arteries with the pulmonary arteries, because they both supply the lungs with blood, but there are important differences:
| artery | function | circulation | diameter |
| pulmonary arteries | supplies deoxygenated blood pumped from the right ventricle | pulmonary circulation | relatively large |
| bronchial arteries | supplies oxygenated blood pumped from the left ventricle | systemic circulation | relatively small |
The bronchial arteries are typically enlarged and tortuous in chronic pulmonary thromboembolic hypertension.[1]
The bronchial arteries are usually not reconnected following lung transplantation[2]
Aneurysms of the bronchial artery may mimic aortic aneurysms.[3]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||