In human anatomy

Human anatomy

Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the human body. Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of anatomical structures that can be seen by the naked eye...

, the bronchial arteries help supply the lungs with nutrition and oxygenated blood

Blood

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

. Although there is much variation, there are usually two bronchial arteries that run to the left lung

Left lung

The human left lung is divided into two lobes, an upper and a lower, by the oblique fissure, which extends from the costal to the mediastinal surface of the lung both above and below the hilum....

, and one to the right lung

Right lung

The human right lung is divided into three lobes , superior, middle, and inferior, by two interlobular fissures:-Fissures:...

.

Origin

The left bronchial arteries (superior & inferior) usually arise directly from the thoracic aorta

Thoracic aorta

The thoracic aorta is contained in the posterior mediastinal cavity.It begins at the lower border of the fourth thoracic vertebra where it is continuous with the aortic arch, and ends in front of the lower border of the twelfth thoracic vertebra, at the aortic hiatus in the diaphragm where it...

.

The single right bronchial artery usually arises from one of the following:

• 1) the thoracic aorta
  Thoracic aorta
  The thoracic aorta is contained in the posterior mediastinal cavity.It begins at the lower border of the fourth thoracic vertebra where it is continuous with the aortic arch, and ends in front of the lower border of the twelfth thoracic vertebra, at the aortic hiatus in the diaphragm where it...
  
   at a common trunk with the right 3rd posterior intercostal artery
• 2) the superior bronchial artery on the left side
• 3) any number of the right intercostal arteries mostly the third right posterior.

Distribution to lung

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

Bronchial veins

The bronchial veins are small vessels that return blood from the larger bronchi and structures at the roots of the lungs. The right side drains into the azygos vein, while the left side drains into the left superior intercostal vein or the accessory hemiazygos vein.The bronchial veins are...

.

Each bronchial artery also has a branch that supplies the esophagus.

Comparison with pulmonary arteries

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

>- | pulmonary arteries

supplies deoxygenated blood pumped from the right ventricle Right ventricle The right ventricle is one of four chambers in the human heart. It receives deoxygenated blood from the right atrium via the tricuspid valve, and pumps it into the pulmonary artery via the pulmonary valve and pulmonary trunk....

pulmonary circulation Pulmonary circulation Pulmonary circulation is the half portion of the cardiovascular system which carries Oxygen-depleted Blood away from the heart, to the Lungs, and returns oxygenated blood back to the heart. Encyclopedic description and discovery of the pulmonary circulation is widely attributed to Doctor Ibn...

>- | bronchial arteries

supplies oxygenated blood pumped from the left ventricle Left ventricle The left ventricle is one of four chambers in the human heart. It receives oxygenated blood from the left atrium via the mitral valve, and pumps it into the aorta via the aortic valve.-Shape:...

systemic circulation Systemic circulation Systemic circulation is the part of the cardiovascular system which carries oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body, and returns deoxygenated blood back to the heart. This physiologic theory of circulation was first described by William Harvey...

relatively small

Pathology

The bronchial arteries are typically enlarged and tortuous in chronic

Chronic (medicine)

A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.In medicine, the...

 pulmonary thromboembolic

Pulmonary embolism

Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream . Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus from the deep veins in the legs, a process termed venous thromboembolism...

 hypertension

Hypertension

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...

.

The bronchial arteries are usually not reconnected following lung transplantation

Aneurysm

Aneurysm

An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...

s of the bronchial artery may mimic aortic aneurysm

Aortic aneurysm

An aortic aneurysm is a general term for any swelling of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal, usually representing an underlying weakness in the wall of the aorta at that location...

s.

External links

- "Branches of the ascending aorta

Ascending aorta

The ascending aorta is a portion of the aorta commencing at the upper part of the base of the left ventricle, on a level with the lower border of the third costal cartilage behind the left half of the sternum; it passes obliquely upward, forward, and to the right, in the direction of the heart’s...

, arch of the aorta, and the descending aorta

Descending aorta

The descending aorta is part of the aorta, the largest artery in the body. The descending aorta is the part of the aorta beginning at the aortic arch that runs down through the chest and abdomen. The descending aorta is divided into two portions, the thoracic and abdominal, in correspondence with...

."

• Bronchial arteries - anatquest.nlm.nih.gov.