Main arteries of the head and neck (Latin)

Left lateral view. The head and neck receives the majority of their blood supply through two paired arteries and their branches: the a. carotis communis and the a. subclavia. The a. carotis communis dextra (not shown) arises from the truncus brachocephalicus, while the a. carotis communis sinistra branches directly from the arcus aortae. Both a. carotis communis dextra and a. carotis communis sinistra bifurcate in the neck at the level of the cartilago thyroidea of the larynx into the a. carotis interna and a. carotis externa. The a. carotis interna is one of the main vessels supplying the brain via the circulus arteriosus cerebri (circulus Willis). It does not give off any cervical branches. It enters the cavitas cranii through the external opening of the canalis carotidis. Within the cavitas cranii, the a. carotis interna ultimately divides into its two terminal branches, the a. anterior cerebri and a. media cerebri (not seen here).The a. carotis externa gives off eight major branches that provide arterial supply to the head and face: the a. thyroidea superior, a. pharyngea ascendens, a. lingualis, a. facialis, a. occipitalis, a. auricularis posterior, a. maxillaris and a. temporalis superficialis. The a. maxillaris and a. temporalis superficialis form the two terminal branches of the a. carotis externa. The a. maxillaris generally supplies the deep structures of the face, while the a. facialis and a. temporalis superficialis contribute to the arterial supply of the superficial areas of the face. The neck mainly obtains its blood supply through branches of the a. subclavia. The a. subclavia gives rise to the paired aa. vertebrales, which not only provide blood supply to the upper part of the medulla spinalis, but more importantly, fuse to form the a. basilaris, the second main vessel that supplies the brain. In addition to the aa. vertebrales, major branches of the a. subclavia providing blood supply to structures of the neck include the truncus thyrocervicalis and truncus costocervicalis. These give rise to further branches that supply structures in the neck and shoulder region, e.g. a. thyroidea inferior, a. transversa colli etc.