Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Ophthalmic artery

A branch of the internal carotid artery as it leaves the cavernous sinus; it enters the orbit through the optic canal with the optic nerve and supplies the orbit and eye.

Key points

• ICA → optic canal with the optic nerve.
• Central retinal artery = end artery.
• Anastomoses with facial (angular) and superficial temporal arteries.
• Vessels: mesodermal, from angioblastic tissue.
• Artery: intima / media (smooth muscle) / adventitia.
• Most named arteries are muscular; aorta is elastic.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Branches · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1585–1586, 1641
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF p. 236; ch. 19, PDF p. 357
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–199

More from the head and neck

• Ophthalmic nerve
• Ophthalmic veins
• Optic nerve
• Orbicularis oculi
• Orbicularis oris
• Palate
• Palatine tonsil
• Palatopharyngeus
• Parathyroid glands
• Parietal bone
• Parietal lobe
• Parotid gland

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