Left pulmonary artery
Arteria pulmonalis sinistra
- Acronym: LPA
Definition
The left pulmonary artery passes inferiorly and posteriorly and exits the pericardium below the aortic arch at the ligamentum arteriosum. It arches over and behind the left mainstem bronchus and curves around three-fourths of the circumference of the left upper lobe bronchus. The left main pulmonary artery has a long extra pericardial length before giving off its first branch for the left superior lobe. It continues as the interlobar artery.
Branches of left pulmonary artery (LPA) :
Superior lobar artery of left lung (there is no left truncus anterior) that supplies blood to the right upper lobe
Left interlobar artery, the inferior and larger branch of the left pulmonary artery
Text by Antoine Micheau, MD - Copyright IMAIOS
This definition incorporates text from the wikipedia website - Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. (2004, July 22). FL: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved August 10, 2004, from http://www.wikipedia.org