The transverse cervical artery (transverse artery of neck or transversa colli artery) is an artery in the neck and a branch of the
thyrocervical trunk, running at a higher level than the
suprascapular artery.
Structure
It passes transversely below the inferior belly of the
omohyoid muscle
The omohyoid muscle is a muscle that depresses the hyoid. It is located in the front of the neck, and consists of two bellies separated by an intermediate tendon. The omohyoid muscle is proximally attached to the scapula and distally attached to th ...
to the anterior margin of the
trapezius, beneath which it divides into a superficial and a deep branch.
It crosses in front of the phrenic nerve and the
scalene muscles
The scalene muscles are a group of three pairs of muscles in the lateral neck, namely the anterior scalene, middle scalene, and posterior scalene. They are innervated by the third to the eight cervical spinal nerves (C3-C8).
The anterior and m ...
, and in front of or between the divisions of the
brachial plexus, and is covered by the
platysma and
sternocleidomastoid
The sternocleidomastoid muscle is one of the largest and most superficial cervical muscles. The primary actions of the muscle are rotation of the head to the opposite side and flexion of the neck. The sternocleidomastoid is innervated by the access ...
muscles, and crossed by the
omohyoid
The omohyoid muscle is a muscle that depresses the hyoid. It is located in the front of the neck, and consists of two bellies separated by an intermediate tendon. The omohyoid muscle is proximally attached to the scapula and distally attached to th ...
and
trapezius.
The transverse cervical artery originates from the thyrocervical trunk, it passes through the posterior triangle of the neck to the anterior border of the levator scapulae muscle, where it divides into deep and superficial branches.
*
Superficial branch
** Ascending branch
** Descending branch (also known as
superficial cervical artery, which supplies the middle and lateral portions of the
trapezius)
* Deep branch (also called the
dorsal scapular artery). ''Descending branch'' in older literature. Most often, however, this artery branches directly from the
subclavian artery
In human anatomy, the subclavian arteries are paired major arteries of the upper thorax, below the clavicle. They receive blood from the aortic arch. The left subclavian artery supplies blood to the left arm and the right subclavian artery supplie ...
.
Function
Superficial branch
Upon entering the
trapezius muscle the superficial branch divides again into an ascending and descending branch. The ascending branch distributes branches to
trapezius, and to the neighboring muscles and lymph glands in the neck, and anastomoses with the superficial branch of the descending branch of the
occipital artery. The descending branch which is also called as superficial cervical artery, anastomoses with the deep and
dorsal scapular artery which in turn links to the
subscapular artery. This anastomosis is a ring circulation around the scapula where it continues to the
suprascapular artery via the
circumflex scapular artery.
Deep branch
The dorsal scapular artery (or descending scapular artery
) is a blood vessel which supplies the
levator scapulae,
rhomboids,
and
trapezius.
It most frequently arises from the
subclavian artery
In human anatomy, the subclavian arteries are paired major arteries of the upper thorax, below the clavicle. They receive blood from the aortic arch. The left subclavian artery supplies blood to the left arm and the right subclavian artery supplie ...
(the second or third part),
but a quarter of the time it arises from the transverse cervical artery.
In that case, the artery is also known as the deep branch of the transverse cervical artery, and the junction of those two is called cervicodorsal trunk.
It passes beneath the
levator scapulae to the superior angle of the
scapula, and then descends under the
rhomboid muscles along the vertebral border of the scapula as far as the inferior angle.
It anastomoses with the
suprascapular and
circumflex scapular arteries.
Additional images
File:Gray507.png, Superficial dissection of the right side of the neck, showing the carotid and subclavian arteries
File:Dorsal scapular artery.png, The dorsal scapular artery, sometimes a branch from the transverse cervical artery
References
External links
* – "Muscles of the Back: Spinal Accessory Nerve (CN XI) and Transverse Cervical Vessels"
* – "Branches of the first part of the subclavian artery."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Transverse Cervical Artery
Arteries of the head and neck