Blood vessels of the pharynx (Latin)

In this posterior perspective, we can see important blood vessels of the head and neck on each side of the pharynx. Each a. carotis communis bifurcates in the neck into an a. carotis interna and an a. carotis externa. The a. carotis interna ascends in the neck laterally to the pharynx and enters the skull (cranium) to supply the brain (encephalon). The a. carotis externa gives off several branches, some of them responsible for supplying the upper part of the pharynx. In this perspective, we see one of those branches - the a. pharyngea ascendens. This is a long, slender vessel located deep in the neck. It leaves the a. carotis externa close to the carotid bifurcation and ascends superiorly along the pharynx, giving off branches that supply various structures located in the upper part of the pharynx. The lower part of the pharynx is supplied by rami pharyngei arteriae thyroideae inferioris, which originates from the truncus thyrocervicalis of the a. subclavia. The vv. pharyngeae form a venous plexus which drains inferiorly into the v. jugularis interna.