The ophthalmic artery gives rise to one lateral and one medial posterior ciliary artery. See temporal arteritis retinal arterial occlusion cherry-red spot central retinal vein.Ĭarotid artery See amaurosis fugax internal carotid artery.Ĭiliary artery's Branches of the ophthalmic artery that supply the whole of the uveal tract, the sclera and the edge of the cornea with its neighbouring conjunctiva. The outer third of the retina containing the photoreceptors is supplied by the choriocapillaris. Both these branches subdivide into nasal and temporal branches which course in the nerve fibre layer, supplying the capillaries feeding the bipolar and the ganglion cell layers of the retina (except for the foveola). It enters the eye through the optic disc and divides into superior and inferior branches. Its walls are thicker than those of veins in order to withstand the greater pressure of blood on the arterial side of the circulation.Īnterior ciliary artery's See ciliary artery.Ĭentral retinal artery A branch of the ophthalmic artery entering the optic nerve some 6-12 mm from the eyeball. internal iliac arteryĪ tubular, elastic vessel which carries blood away from the heart.

See: head (Arteries and veins of the head) brain (Major arteries of the brain) and circle of Willis for illus. In the neck, the internal carotid artery contains two receptor sites, the carotid body, a chemoreceptor for the oxygen concentration of the blood, and baroreceptors that detect and respond to arterial pressure. These regions include the primary motor and sensory cortices therefore, a blockage of the internal carotid artery circulation, e.g., a unilateral ischemic stroke, often produces unilateral motor weakness or sensory loss on the opposite side of the body. As it passes the optic nerve, the internal carotid puts out its first major branch, the ophthalmic artery.Įach internal carotid artery supplies blood to the ipsilateral eye and about 80% of the ipsilateral brain, including most of the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes and the basal ganglia. Just below the optic nerve, the internal carotid loops back and turns upward to become the middle cerebral artery of the circle of Willis. Passing over the foramen lacerum, the internal carotid emerges from its canal and follows the carotid groove upward along the medial wall of the middle cranial fossa, passing through the cavernous sinus. The internal carotid then turns forward and runs in the carotid canal inside the petrous part of the temporal bone.

After branching from the common carotid, the internal carotid continues in the carotid sheath to the carotid foramen in the base of the skull just anterior to the jugular foramen. One of the two divisions of the common carotid artery.

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