Which option correctly places the pulmonary artery as the vessel carrying deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs?

• A. Aorta
• B. Pulmonary vein
• C. Superior vena cava
• D. Pulmonary artery

Answer: (D)

In the lungs, blood needs to be re-oxygenated, and that happens through pulmonary circulation. The vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the lungs and that blood is deoxygenated is the pulmonary artery. It leaves the right ventricle and divides to reach each lung, delivering blood for gas exchange. Once the blood picks up oxygen in the lungs, it returns to the heart through the pulmonary veins into the left atrium, then moves to the left ventricle and out to the body via the aorta. The aorta carries oxygen-rich blood to the body, not to the lungs. The superior vena cava brings deoxygenated blood from the upper body into the heart, and the pulmonary veins carry oxygenated blood from the lungs back to the heart. So the pulmonary artery is the vessel that carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs.