The esophageal arteries four or five in number, arise from the front of the
aorta
The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes o ...
, and pass obliquely downward to the
esophagus
The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to t ...
, forming a chain of anastomoses along that tube, anastomosing with the
esophageal branches of the inferior thyroid arteries
The inferior thyroid artery is an artery in the neck. It arises from the thyrocervical trunk and passes upward, in front of the vertebral artery and longus colli muscle. It then turns medially behind the carotid sheath and its contents, and al ...
above, and with ascending branches from the left
inferior phrenic and
left gastric
In human anatomy, the left gastric artery arises from the celiac artery and runs along the superior portion of the lesser curvature of the stomach. Branches also supply the lower esophagus. The left gastric artery anastomoses with the right gast ...
arteries below. These arteries supply the middle third of the esophagus.
References
External links
* - "Branches of the
ascending aorta
The ascending aorta (AAo) is a portion of the aorta commencing at the upper part of the base of the left ventricle, on a level with the lower border of the third costal cartilage behind the left half of the sternum.
Structure
It passes obliqu ...
,
arch of the aorta, and the
descending aorta
In human anatomy, the descending aorta is part of the aorta, the largest artery in the body. The descending aorta begins at the aortic arch and runs down through the chest and abdomen. The descending aorta anatomically consists of two portions o ...
."
Arteries of the thorax
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