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Superior pulmonary vein: anatomy, location and function

One of the pulmonary veins draining the upper lung lobes into the left atrium. It returns oxygenated blood to the left atrium.

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Highlighted in the model: Superior pulmonary vein. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

Superior pulmonary vein at a glance

What it is
One of the pulmonary veins draining the upper lung lobes into the left atrium.
Location
The right drains the upper and middle lobes; the left drains the upper lobe including the lingula; each enters the left atrium at its posterior wall.
Function
It returns oxygenated blood to the left atrium.
Body system
Cardiovascular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA49916 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • Pulmonary veins carry oxygenated blood.
  • Usually four pulmonary veins enter the left atrium; the number varies in about a quarter of people.
  • The right superior pulmonary vein passes behind the superior vena cava to reach the left atrium.

Structures next to the superior pulmonary vein

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Superior pulmonary vein (FMA49916). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.