Anatomy study note · Thorax

Ascending aorta

The first part of the aorta, running up and forward from the left ventricle to the level of the sternal angle, inside the pericardium.

Key points

• Left ventricle → sternal angle.
• Inside the pericardium with the pulmonary trunk.
• Only branches: coronary arteries.
• Truncus arteriosus + spiral septum → aorta and pulmonary trunk.
• Dissecting aneurysm: usually ascending aorta.
• Elastic artery: 40–70 fenestrated elastic membranes in the media.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Location · Features · Branches · Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 5, PDF pp. 642–644
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF pp. 233, 245–246, 249
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–200, 200

More from the thorax

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

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