The anterior humeral circumflex artery (anterior circumflex artery, anterior circumflex humeral artery) is an

artery An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pu ...

in the

arm In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...

. It is one of two circumflexing arteries that branch from the

axillary artery In human anatomy, the axillary artery is a large blood vessel that conveys oxygenated blood to the lateral aspect of the thorax, the axilla (armpit) and the upper limb. Its origin is at the lateral margin of the first rib, before which it is c ...

, the other being the

posterior humeral circumflex artery The posterior humeral circumflex artery (posterior circumflex artery, posterior circumflex humeral artery) arises from the third part of axillary artery at the lower border of the subscapularis, and runs posteriorly with the axillary nerve throug ...

. The anterior humeral circumflex artery is considerably smaller than the posterior and arises nearly opposite to it, from the lateral side of the axillary artery. The anterior humeral circumflex artery runs horizontally, beneath the

coracobrachialis The coracobrachialis muscle is the smallest of the three muscles that attach to the coracoid process of the scapula. (The other two muscles are pectoralis minor and the short head of the biceps brachii.) It is situated at the upper and medial part ...

and short head of the

biceps brachii muscle The biceps or biceps brachii ( la, musculus biceps brachii, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join t ...

, in front of the neck of the humerus. On reaching the intertubercular sulcus, it gives off a branch which ascends in the sulcus to supply the head of the humerus and the

shoulder-joint The shoulder joint (or glenohumeral joint from Greek ''glene'', eyeball, + -''oid'', 'form of', + Latin ''humerus'', shoulder) is structurally classified as a synovial ball-and-socket joint and functionally as a diarthrosis and multiaxial join ...

. The trunk of the vessel is then continued onward beneath the long head of the biceps brachii and the deltoideus muscle, and

anastomoses An anastomosis (, plural anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be norm ...

with the posterior humeral circumflex artery.

Additional Images

File:Slide3SSS.JPG, Anterior humeral circumflex artery

References

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* * Arteries of the upper limb {{circulatory-stub

Additional Images

See also

References

External links