The bronchial veins are small vessels that return blood from the larger

bronchi A bronchus is a passage or airway in the lower respiratory tract that conducts air into the lungs. The first or primary bronchi pronounced (BRAN-KAI) to branch from the trachea at the carina are the right main bronchus and the left main bronch ...

and structures at the roots of the

lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

. The right side drains into the

azygos vein The azygos vein is a vein running up the right side of the thoracic vertebral column draining itself towards the superior vena cava. It connects the systems of superior vena cava and inferior vena cava and can provide an alternative path for blo ...

, while the left side drains into the left superior intercostal vein or the

accessory hemiazygos vein The accessory hemiazygos vein, also called the superior hemiazygous vein, is a vein on the left side of the vertebral column that generally drains the fourth through eighth intercostal spaces on the left side of the body. Structure The accessor ...

. Bronchial veins are thereby part of the

bronchial circulation The bronchial circulation is the part of the circulatory system that supplies nutrients and oxygen to the cells that constitute the lungs, as well as carrying waste products away from them. It is complementary to the pulmonary circulation that bri ...

, carrying waste products away from the

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

that constitute the

. The bronchial veins are counterparts to the

bronchial arteries In human anatomy, the bronchial arteries 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 and are a vital part o ...

. However, they only carry ~13% of the blood flow of the bronchial arteries. The remaining blood is returned to the heart via the

pulmonary veins The pulmonary veins are the veins that transfer oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart. The largest pulmonary veins are the four ''main pulmonary veins'', two from each lung that drain into the left atrium of the heart. The pulmonary ve ...

References

External links

* Veins of the torso {{circulatory-stub

See also

References

External links