Pulmonary Veins

The Veins

The terminal pulmonary veins (Vv. pulmonales), usually seven or eight in number, return the aërated blood from the lungs and open into the left atrium of the heart. They are destitute of valves. Their tributaries arise in the capillary plexuses in the lobules of the lungs, and unite to form larger and larger trunks which accompany the branches of the bronchi and pulmonary arteries. A very large vein is formed by the union at an acute angle of a trunk from each lung, where the latter are adherent to each other.