In the Lungs, Bronchial Arteries supply Till Respiratory Bronchioles

Question 7

In the Lungs, Bronchial Arteries supply

a.       Till Tertiary bronchi

b.      Till Segmental Bronchi

c.       Till Respiratory Bronchioles

d.      Till alveolar sacs

Answer

C) Till Respiratory Bronchioles

Reference

Gray’s Anatomy 38^th Edition Page 1674

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Discussion

Ä     Bronchial arteries supply oxygenated blood to maintain the pulmonary tissues.

Ä     They are derived from the descending thoracic aorta directly or indirectly;

o       the right is usually a branch of the third posterior intercostal artery, whilst

o       there are normally two left bronchial arteries (upper and lower) which branch separately from the thoracic aorta.

Ä     The bronchial arteries accompany the bronchial tree and supply bronchial glands and the walls of the bronchial tubes and larger pulmonary vessels.

Ä     The bronchial branches form, in the muscular tunic of the air passages, a capillary plexus supporting a second, mucosal plexus which communicates with branches of the pulmonary artery and drains into the pulmonary veins. Other arterial branches ramify in interlobular loose connective tissue and end partly in deep and partly in superficial, bronchial veins. Some also ramify on the surface of the lung, forming subpleural capillary plexuses.

Explanation

Ä     Bronchial arteries supply the bronchial wall as far as the respiratory bronchioles.

Comments

Ä     They anastomose with branches of the pulmonary arteries in the walls of the smaller bronchi and in the visceral pleura. Such bronchopulmonary anastomoses may be more numerous in the newborn, and then later obliterated to a marked degree.

Tips

Ä     In addition to the main bronchial arteries, smaller bronchial branches arise from the descending thoracic aorta; one of these may lie in the pulmonary ligament and may cause bleeding during inferior lobectomy.