pulmonarkretsloppet

The pulmonarkretsloppet, also known as the pulmonary circulation, is the part of the circulatory system in which deoxygenated blood is pumped from the heart to the lungs and oxygenated blood is returned to the heart. This vital process is responsible for gas exchange, specifically the uptake of oxygen and the release of carbon dioxide.

The journey begins when deoxygenated blood from the body returns to the right atrium of the heart. From there, it passes through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle. The right ventricle then contracts, pumping the deoxygenated blood through the pulmonary valve into the pulmonary artery. The pulmonary artery branches into smaller vessels that lead to the lungs.

Within the lungs, the blood travels through a network of capillaries surrounding the alveoli, the tiny air sacs where gas exchange occurs. Oxygen from inhaled air diffuses across the thin walls of the alveoli and capillaries into the blood, while carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism, diffuses from the blood into the alveoli to be exhaled.

Once oxygenated, the blood flows through venules and then into the pulmonary veins. The pulmonary veins carry the oxygen-rich blood back to the left atrium of the heart. From the left atrium, the blood passes through the mitral valve into the left ventricle, completing the pulmonary circulation. This oxygenated blood will then be pumped by the left ventricle into the systemic circulation to supply the rest of the body.