Transverse cervical artery

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Artery: Transverse cervical artery
Superficial dissection of the right side of the neck, showing the carotid and subclavian arteries. Transverse cervical artery is labeled, branching from the thyrocervical_trunk.
Superficial and deep branches from the transverse cervical artery.
Latin arteria transversa cervicis, arteria transversa colli
Gray's subject #148 82
Source Thyrocervical trunk   
Branches Superficial branch
Deep branch
Vein Transverse cervical veins
Dorlands
/ Elsevier
    
a_61/12156407

The transverse cervical artery (transverse artery of neck, transversalis colli artery) is a branch of the thyrocervical trunk, running at a higher level than the suprascapular artery.

Contents

[edit] Path

It passes transversely above the inferior belly of the omohyoid muscle to the anterior margin of the trapezius, beneath which it divides into a superficial and a deep branch.

It crosses in front of the phrenic nerve and the scalene muscles, and in front of or between the divisions of the brachial plexus, and is covered by the platysma and sternocleidomastoid muscles, and crossed by the omohyoid and trapezius.

[edit] Branches

The transverse cervical artery splits into two branches, a superficial one and a deep one:

[edit] Additional images

[edit] External links

  • SUNY Labs 01:04-0100 - "Muscles of the Back: Spinal Accessory Nerve (CN XI) and Transverse Cervical Vessels"
  • SUNY Figs 26:03-04 - "Branches of the first part of the subclavian artery."

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.