| Bronchial artery | |
|---|---|
 Bronchial artery labeled at center right | |
| Details | |
| Source | Thoracic aorta |
| Vein | Bronchial veins |
| Supplies | Lungs |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | arteriae bronchiales, rami bronchiales partis thoracicae aortae |
| MeSH | D001981 |
| TA98 | A12.2.11.002 |
| TA2 | 4187 |
| FMA | 68109 71536, 68109 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
Inhuman anatomy, thebronchial arteries supply thelungs withoxygenated blood, and nutrition. Although there is much variation, there are usually two bronchialarteries that run to theleft lung, and one to theright lung, and are a vital part of the respiratory system.
There are typically two left and one right bronchial arteries.[1]
Theleft bronchial arteries (superior and inferior) usually arise directly from thethoracic aorta.[2]
The singleright bronchial artery may arise from one of the following:
The bronchial arteries supply blood to the bronchi and connective tissue of the lungs. They travel with and branch with thebronchi, ending about at the level of the respiratorybronchioles. Theyanastomose with the branches of thepulmonary arteries, and together, they supply the visceralpleura of the lung in the process.
Note that much of the oxygenated blood supplied by the bronchial arteries is returned via thepulmonary veins rather than thebronchial veins. As a consequence, blood returning to the left heart is slightly less oxygenated than blood found at the level of the pulmonary capillary beds.
Each bronchial artery also has a branch that supplies the esophagus.
It is easy to confuse the bronchial arteries with the pulmonary arteries, because they both supply the lungs with blood, but there are important differences:
| artery | function | circulation | diameter |
| pulmonary arteries | suppliesdeoxygenated blood pumped from theright ventricle | pulmonary circulation | relatively large |
| bronchial arteries | suppliesoxygenated blood pumped from theleft ventricle | systemic circulation | relatively small |
Bronchial artery is considered dilated when its diameter is more than 2 mm. Several causes of bronchial artery dilatations are: congenital heart or lung diseases, obstructions ofpulmonary artery, and lung inflammation.[1]
The bronchial arteries are typically enlarged andtortuous inchronicpulmonary thromboembolic hypertension.[3]
With modern surgical techniques, bronchialanastomoses heal well without bronchial artery reconnection. Largely for this reason, bronchial artery circulation is usually sacrificed duringlung transplants, instead relying on the persistence of a microcirculation (presumably arising from the deoxygenated pulmonary circulation) to provide perfusion to the airways.[4]
Aneurysms of the bronchial artery may mimicaortic aneurysms.[5]Bronchial artery embolisation (BAE) is catheter insertion into a bronchial artery to treathemoptysis (coughing blood).[6][7] Most lung tumors are supplied by the bronchial artery, and they can be treated by chemoembolization (injecting chemotherapy and particles directly into the tumor-feeding artery).[8]
The bronchial arteries and their supply of nutrients to the lungs are also attributed to the observation that an occluded (either ligated or by an embolus) pulmonal artery very rarely results inlung infarction.[9] The bronchial arteries can maintain a supply of oxygenated blood to lung tissue.
