Bronchial and Pulmonary Circulation
There are two means by which blood is transported to the lungs: bronchial circulation and pulmonary circulation. Comparatively, pulmonary circulation is responsible for moving far more blood through the lungs and other tissues of the body. According to Michael G. Levitzky (2013), pulmonary circulation “constitutes the entire output of the right ventricle,” supplying the lungs with blood drained from all tissues of the body (par. 2). The bronchial blood flow, on the other hand, supplies the body with the blood that has received new oxygen from the lungs. The difference between the two, then, is in the terminus of the blood flow.
Pulmonary circulation is responsible for carrying deoxygenated blood to the lungs. Once the oxygen is removed from the blood by cells throughout the body, the blood must return to the heart in order to be pumped back into the lungs. This direction of blood flow carries the blood to the lungs where it can be refilled, so to speak, with oxygen. As per New Health Advisor (2014), each direction of circulation connects to a different portion of the heart. Via the pulmonary blood flow, the oxygen-lacking blood enters the heart through the right atrium and right ventricle (par. 6).
Systemic circulation, on the other hand, or bronchial circulation, carries oxygenated blood to all tissues throughout the body. Once the lungs re-enrich the blood, it travels back to the heart, re-enters the systemic circulation system, and moves around the body to deliver much-needed oxygen to all cells. This direction of blood flow enters the heart through the left atrium; the left ventricle then moves it throughout the body (New Health Advisor, 2014, par. 6).
In terms of development, the circulatory system begins to develop without benefit of the lungs; the umbilical cord and placenta temporarily replace this function in the absence of fetal lung function (New Health Advisor, 2014, par. 7). In this sense, pulmonary blood flow is bypassed. When the baby is born, the lungs expand and blood begins to travel through both chambers of the heart (New Health Advisor, 2014, par. 7).
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