Pulmonary circulation
| Pulmonary circulation | |
|---|---|
Pulmonary circulation in the heart | |
| Details | |
| System | Circulatory system |
| Identifiers | |
| MeSH | D011652 |
| TA2 | 4073 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
The pulmonary circulation is a division of the circulatory system in all vertebrates. The circuit begins with deoxygenated blood returned from the body to the right atrium of the heart where it is pumped out from the right ventricle to the lungs. In the lungs the blood is oxygenated and returned to the left atrium to complete the circuit.[1]
The other division of the circulatory system is the systemic circulation that begins upon the oxygenated blood reaching the left atrium from the pulmonary circulation. From the atrium the oxygenated blood enters the left ventricle where it is pumped out to the rest of the body, then returning as deoxygenated blood back to the pulmonary circulation.
A separate circulatory circuit known as the bronchial circulation supplies oxygenated blood to the tissues of the lung that do not directly participate in gas exchange.
- ^ Hine R (2008). A dictionary of biology (6th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 540. ISBN 978-0-19-920462-5.