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There is another term that will be encountered when
reading about blood vessels. That term is vascular or ve-
nous sinuses. These should not be confused with
cavities in bones, which are also called sinuses. Venous
sinuses are veins with thin walls.
Chapter 14called the abdominal aorta. It is as thick as a finger and
its branches go to various regions of the body. Its arte-rial
branches are usually named according to the region of the
body, the organ it goes to, or the bone it follows (Figure 14-
8).Major Arteries and Veins
of the Body
The aorta is the largest artery in the body. It begins as it
exits from the left ventricle of the heart as the ascending
aorta. It then arches to the left as the arch of the aorta (or
aortic arch) and heads down along the spine through the
thorax as the thoracic aorta. When it passes through the
diaphragm muscle and enters the abdominal cavity, it is
Right internal carotid artery
Right external carotid artery
Right vertebral artery
Right subclavian artery
Brachiocephalic arteryRight axillary artery^
Ascending aorta
Common hepatic artery
Right brachial artery
Descending (abdominal) aorta
Right common iliac artery
Right external iliac artery
Right digitalis artery
Right femoral artery
Right popliteal arteryRight posterior
tibial artery
Right anterior
tibial artery
Right peroneal artery
Right dorsalis
pedis arteryFigure 14- 8 The major arteries of the systemic
circulation.
Ascending Aorta Branches
The right and left coronary arteries branch off the
ascending- aorta and supply the heart.Aortic Arch Branches
The first branch of the aortic arch is the brachiocephalic
artery, which divides into the right common carotidRight and left common
carotid arteries^
Left subclavian artery^
Aortic arch^
Descending (thoracic) aortaLeft gastric artery^
Splenic artery^
Superior mesenteric artery^
Left renal artery^
Left radial artery^
Left ulnar artery
Left internal
iliac artery
Left deep
palmar arch artery^
Left superficial
palmar arch artery(^) ®
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