Explain The Function Of The Pulmonary Artery

The function of the pulmonary artery is to pump deoxygenated blood to the lungs from the heart to become oxygenated. The pressure inside the pulmonary artery is very low, although blood here is at a slightly higher pressure than the blood in the pulmonary vein, and this is reflected as the walls of the artery are significantly thinner than the walls of a corresponding artery, for example, the aorta. The walls of the pulmonary artery contain a large amount of elastic fibres in order to maintain the shape of the artery. The lumen of the artery is smaller than that of the vein which has a large lumen. This relates to the pressure difference between the two blood vessels as the smaller lumen of the artery allows for a greater pressure of blood.

It is an elongated muscle which allows for slow and regular contractions. The nuclei of the smooth muscle cells are centrally located and elongated, similarly to the shape of the cell. In pulmonary blood vessels and the bronchus, this muscle is used to maintain the shape and rigidity of the structure, which it does so involuntarily.

The function of the pulmonary vein is the opposite to that of the pulmonary artery, in being that the pulmonary vein carries oxygenated blood back to the heart in order for the blood to be pumped around the body. Similarly to the pulmonary artery, the pulmonary vein has very thin walls although the vein’s walls are even thinner than those of the pulmonary artery due to the wider lumen and low pressure of the blood. The pulmonary vein also contains little elastic fibres as the shape of the veins do not need to be maintained as rigidly as those of the artery due additionally to the low blood