EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -What makes pulmonary veins different from other veins? Your pulmonary veins are the only veins in your body that carry oxygen-rich blood. All your other veins carry oxygen-poor blood. Similarly, your pulmonary arteries are the only arteries that carry oxygen-poor blood.

Detailed explanation-2: -A crucial difference is that your pulmonary artery carries oxygen-poor (deoxygenated) blood, while your aorta carries oxygen-rich (oxygenated) blood. In fact, your pulmonary arteries are the only arteries in your body that carry oxygen-poor blood.

Detailed explanation-3: -Oxygen-rich blood flows from the lungs back into the left atrium (LA), or the left upper chamber of the heart, through four pulmonary veins. Oxygen-rich blood then flows through the mitral valve (MV) into the left ventricle (LV), or the left lower chamber.

Detailed explanation-4: -Veins always return blood to the heart, but the pulmonary veins are bringing oxygenated blood back to the heart so that it may be pumped to the body’s tissues. Deoxygenated blood travels through the right ventricle to the pulmonary arteries.

Detailed explanation-5: -While veins usually carry deoxygenated blood from tissues back to the heart, in this case, pulmonary veins are among the few veins that carry oxygenated blood instead. Oxygenated blood from the lungs is circulated back to the heart through the pulmonary veins that drain into the left atrium.