Arteries of the Thoracic Limb

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In this image, the limb is elevated, and we have a craniomedial view of the limb. The muscle in about the center of the image is the biceps brachii muscle (M). Are you oriented?

Basically, all we are going to do is trace the main blood supply to the limb. As the vessel courses down the limb (remember, down is up in our image), it changes names. I will not expect you to know the exact location of the name changes (ie, which artery comes off at the point of the name change), but the approximate locations on the images are marked with an asterisk..

Later this semester (Lab 10), you will learn that the axillary artery is a continuation of the subclavian artery. The axillary artery (A) passes around the first rib into the axilla. Just beyond the shoulder joint, as it courses along the brachium, the axillary artery gives off a vessel to the cranial arm and continues as the brachial artery (B). At the elbow, the brachial artery joins the course of the median nerve. A short distance distal to the elbow, it gives off a deep branch and continues as the median artery (C).