Pulmonary artery
Brief description of the pulmonary artery
The pulmonary artery is a large paired blood vessel of the pulmonary circulation, is a continuation of the pulmonary trunk. The only human artery that carries venous blood to the lungs.
Pulmonary artery structure
The pulmonary artery consists of 2 branches (about 2.5 cm in diameter) of the pulmonary trunk, which extend from the right ventricle of the heart. The pulmonary artery is in front of and to the left of all the vessels that enter and exit the heart. The right pulmonary artery is longer than the left one, the length of the section before dividing into left and right is about 4 cm. The right pulmonary artery departs from the pulmonary trunk at an angle, is located between the superior cavity vein, ascending aorta on one side and in front of the right main bronchus on the other. The left one continues the pulmonary trunk, is located in front of the descending part of the aorta and the main left bronchus. Each of the pulmonary arteries enters a corresponding lung.
Pulmonary artery function
The main function of the pulmonary artery is to transport venous blood to the lungs, but many diseases can prevent this, such as:
1. Thromboembolism of the pulmonary artery - the inability to transfer blood due to blockage of the pulmonary artery, as well as the branches of the pulmonary artery by blood clots. Also, there is a pulmonary embolism - blockage of an artery by air, fat, emniotic fluid, foreign bodies, tumors and other rare causes.
The cause of occurrence is thrombus formation due to impaired blood flow, violations of the walls of blood vessels, slowing down the processes of erosion of blood clots and blood clots in humans.
Pulmonary embolism is classified by the volume of the affected pulmonary vascular bed into the following classes:
- Massive - if the damage is more than 50%;
- Submassive - affected from 30 to 50%;
- Non-massive - up to 30%, respectively.
2. Stenosis of the pulmonary artery - a narrowing of the exit passage from the right ventricle in the area of the pulmonary valve. The consequence of the narrowing of the pulmonary trunk is an increase in the pressure difference in the pulmonary artery in the right ventricle, which entails an increase in the effort to push the blood. The pressure in the right atrium also rises. As a consequence, right ventricular hypertrophy occurs, and soon, right ventricular failure. Many patients also develop an atrial septal defect.
Infants with severe stenosis may have cyanosis and older patients may not have symptoms.
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