Anatomy study note · Upper limb
Axillary artery
The main artery of the axilla. It continues the subclavian artery from the outer border of the first rib to the lower border of teres major, where it becomes the brachial artery.
Key points
- 1st rib → lower border of teres major.
- Three parts by pectoralis minor; branches 1, 2, 3.
- 1: highest thoracic. 2: thoracoacromial, lateral thoracic. 3: subscapular, anterior + posterior circumflex humeral.
- Scapular anastomosis → ligate above the subscapular artery.
- Upper limb axis artery: 7th cervical intersegmental.
- Radial and ulnar arteries appear late.
- Artery: intima / media (smooth muscle) / adventitia.
- Most named arteries are muscular; aorta is elastic.
The full note in the atlas also covers
Course · Branches · Histology · Development · Clinical notes
Sign in free to see it on the 3D model, read the full note and practise questions on it.
Written from
- Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 372–377
- Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF pp. 256, 258
- BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–199
More from the upper limb
- Axillary lymph nodes
- Axillary nerve
- Axillary vein
- Basilic vein
- Biceps brachii
- Brachial artery
- Brachial plexus
- Brachialis
- Brachioradialis
- Breast
- Carpal bones
- Cephalic vein
Privacy policy · Designed by DATXOC LLC.