pulmonary vein

noun

, Anatomy.

1. a vein conveying oxygenated blood from the lungs to the left atrium of the heart.

pulmonary vein

noun

1. any one of the four veins that convey oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the heart

pulmonary vein

1. Any of the veins that carry blood with high levels of oxygen from the lungs to the left atrium of the heart.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pulmonary vein¹

First recorded in 1695–1705

Example Sentences

Doctors close a wound to the left pulmonary vein, then try to revive her with two hours of chest massage — first externally and then directly to the heart.

From Seattle Times

Then he lifted the organ with his left hand and cut behind it with his right, one snip on each of the four pulmonary veins that run lung to heart.

From Washington Post

Just as I was about to suture the pulmonary vein, the doors of the operating theatre burst open.

From The Guardian

It was a pulmonary arteriovenous malformation, or PAVM, an abnormal connection between a pulmonary vein and an artery.

From New York Times

“Right inferior mediastinal mass encasing and occluding the right inferior pulmonary vein” became “I have something that looks like a tumor in the middle of my chest.”

From New York Times