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

bronchi A bronchus ( ; : bronchi, ) is a passage or airway in the lower respiratory tract that conducts air into the lungs. The first or primary bronchi to branch from the trachea at the carina are the right main bronchus and the left main bronchus. Thes ...

and structures at the roots of the

lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...

. The right side drains into the azygos vein, while the left side drains into the left superior intercostal vein or the accessory hemiazygos vein. Bronchial veins are thereby part of the

bronchial circulation The bronchial circulation is the part of the systemic circulation 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 b ...

, carrying waste products away from the cells that constitute the

. The bronchial veins are counterparts to the

bronchial arteries In human anatomy, the bronchial arteries supply the lungs with oxygenated blood, and nutrition. 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 ...

. 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

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* Thoracic veins Veins of the torso {{circulatory-stub

See also

References

External links