| |
aorta
(a-orītә)
pl. aorītae, aortas
the great artery arising from the left ventricle, being the main trunk from which the systemic arterial system proceeds. It
arises from the left ventricle of the heart, passes upward (ascending aorta), bends over (aortic arch), and then proceeds downward (descending aorta); the latter is subdivided into an upper, thoracic part and a lower, abdominal part. At about the level of the fourth lumbar
vertebra, it divides into the two common iliac arteries. See also circulatory system.
Aorta, arising from the left ventricle, ascending, arching, then descending through the thorax to the abdomen, where it divides
into the common iliac arteries.
overriding aorta
a congenital anomaly occurring in tetralogy of Fallot, in which the aorta is displaced to the right so that it appears to arise from both ventricles and straddles the ventricular
septal defect.
Copyright 2007. An Elsevier publication. All rights reserved.
Click here for important legal information about Dorland's Medical Dictionary.
|
.jpg)
