The lung has two distinct arterial supplies: the pulmonary circulation, a low-pressure system arising from the right ventricle that carries deoxygenated blood for gas exchange at the alveolar capillary bed and drains via pulmonary veins into the left atrium; and the bronchial circulation, a high-pressure systemic circulation arising from the aorta/intercostal arteries that supplies oxygenated blood to lung tissue itself (airways, pleura, vessel walls) and drains into the azygos/hemizygous venous system. This dual-circulation model belongs to respiratory/cardiopulmonary anatomy and physiology, illustrating how pressure, origin, and function differentiate the two vascular beds serving the same organ.
The lung has two distinct arterial supplies: the pulmonary circulation, a low-pressure system arising from the right ventricle that carries deoxygenated blood for gas exchange at the alveolar capilla…