Pulmonary trunk & arteries

Looks like

A wide, short artery leaving the right ventricle and splitting under the aortic arch into a right and left branch to the lungs.

What it does

Carries blood low in oxygen from the heart to the lungs.

Keeping it well

Clots from the leg veins lodge here (pulmonary embolism): sudden breathlessness, chest pain on breathing or coughing blood, especially after surgery, a long journey or pregnancy, needs emergency care. High pressure here, pulmonary hypertension, shows as slowly worsening breathlessness.

Its parts

• Right pulmonary artery
• Left pulmonary artery

Related conditions

• Chronic venous insufficiency
• Clotting disorders (thrombophilia & APS)
• Deep vein thrombosis
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Kawasaki disease
• Metabolic syndrome
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Pre-eclampsia
• Pulmonary embolism
• Pulmonary hypertension
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sepsis
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Varicose veins
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)