Skip to content
ScienceQuest

Pulmonary vein

The pulmonary veins carry oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium. Most people have four, two from each lung. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 20.5; StatPearls, Thorax, Lung Veins; Gray’s Anatomy (1918), The Pulmonary Veins)

Latin venae pulmonales (Wikipedia, Pulmonary vein, CC BY-SA 4.0) · FMA66643 · Cardiovascular system

The great vessels from behind, all faded except the pulmonary vein, highlighted as branching vessels in both lungs that gather toward the middle of the chest.
The pulmonary vein in place, seen from behind. Render: ScienceQuest, CC BY 4.0. Meshes: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0
The pulmonary vein on its own, seen from behind, its branches spreading through both lungs.
The pulmonary vein alone, seen from behind. Render: ScienceQuest, CC BY 4.0. Meshes: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0

Open it in the Great Vessels Explorer See it alone in 3D

Where are the pulmonary veins?

Inside the lung they begin as small venules draining the pulmonary capillary bed, and they leave each lung through its hilum. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 20.5 and 22.2; StatPearls, Thorax, Lung Veins and Thorax, Lungs)

At the hilum, the pulmonary vein lies in front, the artery behind it and the bronchus behind that. (StatPearls, Thorax, Lungs)

What do the pulmonary veins carry?

Their oxygenated blood fills the left atrium, then crosses the mitral valve into the left ventricle, which pumps it into the systemic circuit. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 19.1; StatPearls, Thorax, Lung Veins, Mitral Valve and Heart Pulmonic Valve)

They also receive a little deoxygenated blood from the bronchial and visceral pleural veins, which lowers their oxygen saturation slightly. (StatPearls, Thorax, Lungs)

The bronchial veins drain only part of the blood that the bronchial arteries bring to the lungs, and the pulmonary veins carry away the rest. The far branches of the bronchial arteries join branches of the pulmonary arteries. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 20.5; StatPearls, Bronchial)

How do the pulmonary veins fit into the pulmonary circuit?

Blood leaves the right ventricle in the pulmonary artery, picks up oxygen in the lung capillaries and comes back in the pulmonary veins. Their arrival at the left atrium completes the pulmonary circuit. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 20.5; StatPearls, Thorax, Heart Pulmonary Arteries and Thorax, Lung Veins)

Blood from the pulmonary veins fills the left atrium and passes into the left ventricle through the opening guarded by the mitral valve. (OpenStax A&P 2e, 19.1; StatPearls, Mitral Valve and Thorax, Lung Veins)

The pulmonary veins at a glance
Feature Detail and source
Number Usually four: two from each lung (OpenStax A&P 2e, 20.5; Gray’s Anatomy (1918), The Pulmonary Veins; StatPearls, Thorax, Lung Veins)
Drain into Left atrium (OpenStax A&P 2e, 19.1; StatPearls, Thorax, Lung Veins)
Leave the lung at The hilum, in front of the pulmonary artery (StatPearls, Thorax, Lungs)

Touches in this model

Measured on the BodyParts3D meshes: surfaces within 2 mm of the pulmonary vein, nearest first, 12 of 19.

Sources

  1. OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 20.5, Circulatory Pathways. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  2. StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Lung Veins. Dakota Poschel; Bruno Bordoni. Last update July 26, 2025. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  3. Anatomy of the Human Body (Gray’s Anatomy), 20th US edition, 1918, Angiology, The Pulmonary Veins (Venae Pulmonales); Internet Archive scan of the 1918 Lea and Febiger printing, terminology of 1918. Henry Gray; edited by Warren H. Lewis. Public domain. Read 2026-10-25.
  4. OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 22.2, The Lungs. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  5. StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Lungs. Raheel Chaudhry; Adekunle E. Omole; Bruno Bordoni. Last update April 20, 2024. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  6. OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology 2e, section 19.1, Heart Anatomy. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  7. StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Mitral Valve. Felipe Sanchez Vaca; Bruno Bordoni. Last update July 24, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  8. StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Heart Pulmonic Valve. Joshua Henrina Sundjaja; Bruno Bordoni. Last update July 24, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  9. StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Bronchial. Christina Amador; Carly Weber; Matthew A. Varacallo. Last update August 8, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.
  10. StatPearls, Anatomy, Thorax, Heart Pulmonary Arteries. William D. Tucker; Carly Weber; Bracken Burns. Last update July 24, 2023. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Read 2026-10-25.

The values are facts and free to use; this page’s selection and presentation are © 2026 ScienceQuest.