The Importance of Pulmonary Circulation: Exchange of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide in the Lungs

pulmonary circulation

eliminates carbon dioxide and oxygenates blood (lung pathway)

Pulmonary circulation is the part of the circulatory system responsible for carrying deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs, where it is oxygenated, and then returning oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart. In the lungs, this oxygen exchange occurs across the thin walls of the alveoli, small air sacs that are surrounded by blood vessels. Oxygen from the air that is breathed in, diffuses across the walls of the alveoli and into the blood vessels, while carbon dioxide from the blood diffuses into the alveoli to be breathed out.

The pulmonary circulatory system begins with the right ventricle of the heart, which pumps deoxygenated blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. Once in the lungs, the pulmonary artery branches into smaller and smaller arterioles, eventually reaching the capillaries that surround the alveoli. Oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange occurs across the walls of the alveolar capillaries, after which the now oxygenated blood travels back to the heart via the pulmonary veins.

At the heart, the pulmonary vein empties into the left atrium, and then into the left ventricle, which pumps the oxygenated blood out to the rest of the body. The pulmonary circulation is a vital component of the body’s ability to take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, allowing the body to function properly.

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