innominate artery

Artery: Brachiocephalic artery
Schematic of the proximal aorta, frontal view. The brachiocephalic artery (labeled innominate) is the third branch of the aorta and the first branch from the arch of the aorta. The heart in the lower left is not shown.
The veins of the thyroid gland.
Latin	truncus brachiocephalicus
Gray's	subject #142 548
Source	aortic arch
Branches	right common carotid artery right subclavian artery thyreoidea ima
Drain	brachiocephalic vein
MeSH	Brachiocephalic+Veins

The brachiocephalic artery (or brachiocephalic trunk or innominate artery) is an artery of the mediastinum that supplies blood to the right arm and the head and neck.

It is the first branch of the aortic arch, and soon after it emerges, the brachiocephalic artery divides into the right common carotid artery and the right subclavian artery.

There is no brachiocephalic artery for the left side of the body. The left common carotid, and the left subclavian artery, come directly off the aortic arch. However, there are two brachiocephalic veins.

Origin

It arises, on a level with the upper border of the second right costal cartilage, from the commencement of the arch of the aorta, on a plane anterior to the origin of the left carotid; it ascends obliquely upward, backward, and to the right to the level of the upper border of the right sternoclavicular articulation, where it divides into the right common carotid and right subclavian arteries.

In infants, it often divides cephalad to the sternoclavicular articulation, within the anterior triangle of the neck.

Branches

The innominate artery usually gives off no branches, but occasionally a small branch, the thyreoidea ima, arises from it. Other times, it gives off a thymic or bronchial branch.

The thyreoidea ima (a. thyreoidea ima) ascends in front of the trachea to the lower part of the thyroid gland, which it supplies.

It varies greatly in size, and appears to compensate for deficiency or absence of one of the other thyroid vessels. It occasionally arises from the aorta, the right common carotid, the subclavian or the internal mammary.

Additional images

Innominate artery labeled at upper right.	The tracheobronchial lymph glands.	Transverse section of the thorax, showing the contents of the middle and the posterior mediastinum.	Mediastinal surface of right lung.
The position and relation of the esophagus in the cervical region and in the posterior mediastinum. Seen from behind.	Dog heart	Magnetic Resonance Angiography

External links

• SUNY Figs 21:06-02
• Brachiocephalic+trunk at eMedicine Dictionary

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.