In the field of medicine, the main artery in the human body is known as the aorta , whose diameter is approximately 2.5 cm in an adult person. This artery is responsible for giving rise to all the arteries that make up the circulatory system, with the sole exception of the pulmonary arteries, which originate from the right ventricle of the heart. The role that this blood vessel must perform is to transfer and distribute oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the arteries.
The Aorta is born directly at the base of the left ventricle of the heart forming the so-called aortic arch, it descends towards the abdomen and at the level of the IV lumbar vertebra, it is divided into two arteries, originating the common or primitive iliac, which are responsible for supplying blood to the pelvis and lower limb, and the middle sacral artery, which runs into a portion of the rectum.
For their part, the branches of the aorta will receive their name according to their location or the shape they present. In this way it is possible to divide them into two main sections: the thoracic and the abdominal.
- Ascending aorta: it is literally the place where this artery started and it is also born in the left ventricle of the heart. This can be located on the back of the sternum. Its diameter ranges between 2 and 3.5 cm. It is also composed of several parts: the root, the sinotubular junction with the coronary arteries, the single right and the left and circumflex, which originates from a common trunk, and finally the ascending aorta.
- Aortic arch or arch: This region of the aorta has an arch or semicircle shape, and is located between the ascending and descending aorta, on the left side of the spine. The supra-aortic arteries or trunks are formed in the aortic arch, which is responsible for distributing blood to the upper extremities and to the head.
- Descending aorta: it is the part of the artery that begins in the aortic arch and reaches the place where it divides into the iliac and middle sacral arteries.
Thoracic aorta: it is the portion of the descending aorta that is located on the diaphragm.
Abdominal aorta: that which goes from the diaphragm to its bifurcation.
