Pulmonary vein Pulmonary vein The pulmonary veins are the veins that transfer oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart. The largest pulmonary veins are the four "main pulmonary veins", two from each lung that drain into the left atrium of the heart. The pulmonary veins are part of the pulmonary circulation. Two main pulmonary veins emerge from each lung hilum, receiving blood from three or four bronchial veins apiece and draining into the left atrium. An inferior and superior main vein drains each lung, so there are four main veins in total. At the root of the lung, the right superior
Blood other blood liquids and not connected to hemoglobin. The hemoglobin molecule is the primary transporter of oxygen in mammals and many other species (for exceptions, see below). Hemoglobin has an oxygen binding capacity between 1.36 and 1.40 ml O per gram hemoglobin, which increases the total blood oxygen capacity seventyfold, compared to if oxygen solely were carried by its solubility of 0.03 ml O per liter blood per mm Hg partial pressure of oxygen (about 100 mm Hg in arteries). With the exception of pulmonary and umbilical arteries and their corresponding veins, arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart