The superior labial artery (superior labial branch of facial artery) is larger and more egregious than the
inferior labial artery
The inferior labial artery (inferior labial branch of facial artery) arises near the angle of the mouth as a branch of the facial artery; it passes upward and forward beneath the triangularis and, penetrating the orbicularis oris, runs in a tort ...
.
It follows a similar course along the edge of the
upper lip
The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...
, lying between the
mucous membrane
A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It is ...
and the
orbicularis oris
In human anatomy, the orbicularis oris muscle is a complex of muscles in the lips that encircles the mouth.
It is a sphincter, or circular muscle, but it is actually composed of four independent quadrants that interlace and give only an appearance ...
, and anastomoses with the artery of the opposite side.
It supplies the upper lip, and gives off in its course two or three vessels which ascend to the nose; a septal branch ramifies on the
nasal septum
The nasal septum () separates the left and right airways of the Human nose, nasal cavity, dividing the two nostrils.
It is Depression (kinesiology), depressed by the depressor septi nasi muscle.
Structure
The fleshy external end of the nasal ...
as far as the point of the
nose
A nose is a protuberance in vertebrates that houses the nostrils, or nares, which receive and expel air for respiration alongside the mouth. Behind the nose are the olfactory mucosa and the sinuses. Behind the nasal cavity, air next passes th ...
, and an alar branch supplies the
ala of the nose
The human nose is the most protruding part of the face. It bears the nostrils and is the first organ of the respiratory system. It is also the principal organ in the olfactory system. The shape of the nose is determined by the nasal bones ...
.
See also
*
Kiesselbach's plexus
Kiesselbach's plexus is an anastomotic arterial network (plexus) of four or five arteries in the nose supplying the nasal septum. It lies in the anterior inferior part of the septum known as Little's area, Kiesselbach's area, or Kiesselbach's tri ...
Additional images
File:Lateral head anatomy detail.jpg, Lateral head anatomy detail
File:Head ap anatomy.jpg, Head anatomy anterior view
File:Slide1bbbb.JPG, Superior labial artery
References
External links
* - "Superficial arteries of the face."
* ()
* http://www.dartmouth.edu/~humananatomy/figures/chapter_47/47-5.HTM
Arteries of the head and neck
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