Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Common carotid artery

The right arises from the brachiocephalic artery, the left from the aortic arch. Each runs up the neck in the carotid sheath to the upper border of the thyroid cartilage, where it divides into the internal and external carotid arteries; it has no other branches.

Key points

• R: brachiocephalic; L: aortic arch.
• Bifurcates at the upper border of the thyroid cartilage.
• Carotid sinus (pressure) + carotid body (O2/CO2), IX.
• Pulse in front of sternocleidomastoid.
• CCA: proximal 3rd arch artery.
• Carotid sinus: baroreceptor. Carotid body: chemoreceptor (glomus cells).
• Artery: intima / media (smooth muscle) / adventitia.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Relations · Features · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1634–1638
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF pp. 226, 250–251
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–199, 205–206

More from the head and neck

• Common tendinous ring
• Cornea
• Corniculate and cuneiform cartilages
• Corpus callosum
• Corpus striatum
• Cricoid cartilage
• Cricothyroid
• Deep cervical lymph nodes
• Digastric
• Dura mater
• Dural venous sinuses
• Epiglottis

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