Anatomy study note · Thorax

Arch of aorta

The continuation of the ascending aorta in the superior mediastinum. It arches backward and to the left over the root of the left lung and becomes the descending aorta at the level of the sternal angle.

Key points

• Begins and ends at the sternal angle (T4/5).
• Branches: brachiocephalic, left common carotid, left subclavian.
• Left recurrent laryngeal hooks under it (ligamentum arteriosum).
• Coarctation → weak femoral pulses + rib notching.
• Arch = aortic sac + left horn + left 4th arch artery.
• Aortic bodies: chemoreceptors.
• Elastic artery: 40–70 fenestrated elastic membranes in the media.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Location · Relations · Branches · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 5, PDF pp. 644, 646
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF pp. 249–250, 252–253
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–200, 206

More from the thorax

• Ascending aorta
• Azygos vein
• Brachiocephalic artery
• Brachiocephalic veins
• Bronchopulmonary segments
• Coronary sinus and cardiac veins
• Costal cartilages
• Descending thoracic aorta
• Diaphragm
• Esophagus
• First rib
• Heart

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