Esophageal (Oesophageal in British English) arteries are a group of
arteries
An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pu ...
from disparate sources supplying the
esophagus
The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to t ...
. The blood supply to the esophagus can roughly be divided into thirds, with anastamoses between each area of supply.
More specifically, it can refer to:
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Esophageal branches of inferior thyroid artery (top third)
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Esophageal branches of thoracic part of aorta
The esophageal arteries four or five in number, arise from the front of the aorta, and pass obliquely downward to the esophagus, forming a chain of anastomoses along that tube, anastomosing with the esophageal branches of the inferior thyroid arte ...
(middle third)
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Esophageal branches of left gastric artery (bottom third)
Arteries
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