Thursday, September 29, 2022

Candy cane aorta

The largest and main artery in the human body, the aorta, emerges from the heart. The aorta distributes oxygenated blood to all parts of the body. The aorta gives off various branches as it travels through the thorax and abdomen. The aorta's arch, which is curved and located in the thorax, joins the ascending and descending aortas. When examined from a side angle using X-rays or magnetic resonance imaging, the configuration of the ascending aorta, aortic arch and descending aorta resembles a candy cane or hockey stick in appearance – candy cane aorta.

In the abdomen, the aorta ends by splitting into the median sacral artery, a small midline vessel and the common iliac arteries, two major blood vessels. 

Reference:

Eikendal AL, Bots ML, Haaring C, Saam T, van der Geest RJ, Westenberg JJ, den Ruijter HM, Hoefer IE, Leiner T. Reference values for cardiac and aortic magnetic resonance imaging in healthy, young caucasian adults. PLoS One. 2016;11(10):e0164480. Go to reference.


Candy cane aorta, candy cane