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.
Ascending cervical artery
Introduction
The ascending cervical artery is a small branch which arises from the inferior thyroid as that vessel is passing behind the carotid sheath; it runs up on the anterior tubercles of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebræ in the interval between the Scalenus anterior and Longus capitis.
To the muscles of the neck it gives twigs which anastomose with branches of the vertebral, and it sends one or two spinal branches into the vertebral canal through the intervertebral foramina to be distributed to the medulla spinalis and its membranes, and to the bodies of the vertebræ, in the same manner as the spinal branches from the vertebral.
It anastomoses with the ascending pharyngeal and occipital arteries.
External links
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]