3D Medical Animation still shot structure Lingual Artery

The lingual artery arises from the external carotid artery between the superior thyroid artery and facial artery. It can be located easily in the

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

Structure

The lingual artery first branches off from the external carotid artery. It runs obliquely upward and medially to the greater horns of the hyoid bone. It then curves downward and forward, forming a loop which is crossed by the hypoglossal nerve. It then passes beneath the digastric muscle and stylohyoid muscle running horizontally forward, beneath the hyoglossus. This takes it through the sublingual space. Finally, ascending almost perpendicularly to the tongue, it turns forward on its lower surface as far as the tip of the tongue, now called the deep lingual artery ( profunda linguae).

Branches

The lingual artery gives 4 main branches: the deep lingual artery, the sublingual artery, the suprahyoid branch, and the dorsal lingual branch.

Deep lingual artery

The deep lingual artery (or ranine artery) is the terminal portion of the lingual artery after the sublingual artery is given off. As seen in the picture, it travels superiorly in a tortuous course along the under (ventral) surface of the

, below the longitudinalis inferior, and above the

mucous membrane A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It ...

. It lies on the lateral side of the genioglossus, the main large extrinsic tongue muscle, accompanied by the lingual nerve. However, as seen in the picture, the deep lingual artery passes inferior to the hyoglossus (the cut muscle on the bottom) while the lingual nerve (not pictured) passes superior to it (for a comparison, the hypoglossal nerve, pictured, passes superior to the hyoglossus). At the tip of the tongue, it is said to anastomose with the artery of the opposite side, but this is denied by Hyrtl. In the mouth, these vessels are placed one on either side of the frenulum linguæ.

Sublingual artery

The sublingual artery arises at the anterior margin of the hyoglossus, and runs forward between the genioglossus and mylohyoid muscle to the sublingual gland. It supplies the gland and gives branches to the mylohyoideus and neighboring muscles, and to the mucous membrane of the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

and gums. One branch runs behind the alveolar process of the

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

in the substance of the gum to anastomose with a similar artery from the other side; another pierces the mylohyoideus and anastomoses with the submental branch of the facial artery.

Other branches

# The suprahyoid branch of the lingual artery runs along the upper border of the hyoid bone, supplying

oxygenated blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the Cell (biology), cells, and transports Metabolic waste, metabolic waste products away from th ...

to the muscles attached to it and joining ( anastomosing) with its fellow of the opposite side. # The dorsal lingual branches of lingual artery consist usually of two or three small branches which arise beneath the hyoglossus . They ascend medially to the back part of the dorsum of the

. They supply the mucous membranes, the glossopalatine arch, the tonsil,

soft palate The soft palate (also known as the velum, palatal velum, or muscular palate) is, in mammals, the soft biological tissue, tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth. The soft palate is part of the palate of the mouth; the other part is ...

, and epiglottis; anastomosing with the vessels of the opposite side.

Function

The lingual artery supplies the tongue. It also supplies the palatine tonsils.

Additional images

File:Slide3fff.JPG, Lingual artery File:Slide9hhh.JPG, Lingual artery

References

External links

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University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

{{Authority control Arteries of the head and neck Pharynx