Once again, blood starts to back up in the left atrium, pulmonary veins, and pulmonary capillaries, ultimately leading to pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary edema.
In atrial fibrillation, electrical impulses are initiated randomly from many other sites called ectopic sites in and around the atria, commonly near the roots of pulmonary veins.
The pulmonary arteries carry blood low in oxygen from the right ventricle, while the pulmonary veins carry blood high in oxygen from the lungs into the left atrium.
The pulmonary veins carry the richest oxygenated blood because they just came from the lungs, and the pulmonary arteries carry oxygen-poor blood because they're heading to the lungs.
Atrial fibrillation is caused by multiple electrical impulses that are initiated randomly from many ectopic sites in and around the atria, commonly near the roots of pulmonary veins.
This idea holds true here because we see that the pulmonary arteries are carrying blood away from the heart and the pulmonary veins are carrying blood to the heart.
A backup of blood in the pulmonary veins and capillary beds can increase the pressure in the pulmonary artery and can also result in fluid moving from the blood vessels to the interstitial space causing pulmonary edema, or congestion.
Oxygenated blood returns to the heart by way of pulmonary veins, which empty into the left atrium. Atrial contractions force blood from the left atrium through the mitral valve, also called bicuspid valve, into the left ventricle.