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Thyrocervical trunk

Thyrocervical trunk
Superficial dissection of the right side of the neck, showing the carotid and subclavian arteries.
Details
Source	Subclavian artery
Branches	Inferior thyroid artery Suprascapular artery Transverse cervical artery
Identifiers
Latin	truncus thyrocervicalis
TA98	A12.2.08.042
TA2	4590
FMA	3990
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

The thyrocervical trunk is a short artery of the neck. It arises from the subclavian artery, then promptly divides into its branches: the inferior thyroid artery, suprascapular artery, and (sometimes) the transverse cervical artery.

Its branches explain the alternative name for this blood vessel: "truncus thyrobicervicoscapularis".^{[citation needed]}

Structure[edit]

The thyrocervical trunk is short and thick.^{[citation needed]}

Origin[edit]

The thyrocervical trunk is a branch of the subclavian artery.^[1][2] It arises from (the anterior aspect of) the first portion of this vessel, close to the medial border of the anterior scalene muscle;^[3] between the origin of the subclavian artery and the inner border of the scalenus anterior muscle.^{[citation needed]}

Relations[edit]

It is located distally to the vertebral artery and proximally to the costocervical trunk.^{[citation needed]}

Branches[edit]

The thyrocervical trunk promplty divides into its branches:^[3]

• Inferior thyroid artery.
• Suprascapular artery
• Transverse cervical artery This is present in about 1/3 of cases. In the rest, the dorsal scapular and superficial cervical arteries arise separately.^{[4][further explanation needed]}

The suprascapular artery and transverse cervical artery both head laterally and cross in front of (anterior to) the scalenus anterior muscle and the phrenic nerve. The inferior thyroid artery runs superiorly from the thyrocervical trunk to the inferior portion of the thyroid gland. There is significant variation in the origin of these vessels.^{[5][verification needed]}

Additional images[edit]

• 
  The internal thoracic artery labelled as internal mammary artery and its branches.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Anatomy figure: 26:03-05 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
• MedEd at Loyola grossanatomy/dissector/labs/ue/post_tri/pt3_2.html