Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Aortic bodies
Introduction
Template:WikiDoc Cardiology News
In the human heart, the aortic body is one of several small cluster of chemoreceptors, baroreceptors, and supporting cells located along the aortic arch.
Function
Function
It measures changes in blood pressure and the composition of arterial blood flowing past it, including the partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide but not pH. The chemoreceptors responsible for sensing changes in blood gases are called glomus cells.
It gives feedback to the medulla oblongata via the afferent branches of the vagus nerve (X). The medulla, in turn, regulates breathing and blood pressure.
Disorders
Disorders
A paraganglioma is a tumor that may involve the aortic body.
Swelling can also occur.
Nomenclature
Nomenclature
Some sources equate the “aortic bodies” and “paraaortic bodies“,[1] while other sources explicitly distinguish between the two.[2][3] When a distinction is made, the “aortic bodies” are chemoreceptors which regulate circulation, while the “paraaortic bodies” are the chromaffin cells which manufacture catecholamines.
References
References
- ↑ Template:Dorlands
- ↑ Aortic+Bodies at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
- ↑ Para-Aortic+Bodies at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]