Which blood vessels carry blood toward the heart? Usually deoxygenated, with the exception of the pulmonary veins?

• A. Artery
• B. Capillary
• C. Aorta
• D. Vein

Answer: (D)

Veins carry blood toward the heart. They have thinner walls and valves to help blood flow back to the heart, especially from the lower parts of the body. The usual pattern is deoxygenated blood returning to the heart, but there’s an important exception in the lungs: the pulmonary veins return oxygenated blood from the lungs to the heart. By contrast, arteries carry blood away from the heart (the aorta is the main artery sending oxygen-rich blood to the body), and capillaries are the tiny vessels where gas and nutrient exchange happens between arterial and venous blood.