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.
This trip from the right ventricle of the heart, through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, and back to the left atrium of the heart is called the pulmonary circulation.
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.
Blood that enters the pulmonary artery is carried to the lungs. There it undergoes oxygenation, a process in which carbon dioxide (a waste product of cellular metabolism) is exchanged for oxygen from the environment.
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.