Superior lingular artery of left lung

At a glance

English

Superior lingular artery of left lung

Latin (TA2)

Arteria lingularis superior pulmonis sinistri

System

Artery

Region

Trunk

Side

Single, on the midline

About the superior lingular artery of left lung

The left lung has no separate middle lobe. Its counterpart is the lingula, a tongue-shaped lower part of the left upper lobe that wraps around the front of the heart. The lingula is divided into two bronchopulmonary segments, superior and inferior, each with its own bronchus and its own pulmonary artery branch. The superior lingular artery supplies the upper of these.

The left pulmonary artery arches over the left main bronchus and then descends behind it in the oblique fissure as its interlobar part. The lingular arteries usually leave the front of this interlobar part, either as a single lingular trunk that divides into superior and inferior branches or as two separate vessels. The superior lingular artery then runs forwards and laterally with the superior lingular bronchus into the segment.

Like other pulmonary arteries it carries deoxygenated blood from the right ventricle to the alveolar capillaries, and it branches in step with the bronchial tree, running beside each airway. The veins of the segment, by contrast, run between segments, which helps the surgeon find the planes between them.

Knowing where the lingular arteries arise matters in lingulectomy and segmentectomy, operations that remove part of a lobe while keeping the rest. On imaging, a filling defect in this branch shows a pulmonary embolus lodged at segmental level.

Course and supply

Arises from

The interlobar part of the left pulmonary artery, directly or through a common lingular trunk.

Ends in

Divides within the superior lingular segment into subsegmental branches that follow the bronchi down to the alveolar capillaries.

Supplies

Carries deoxygenated blood to the superior lingular segment of the left upper lobe for gas exchange.