Artery
Artery: A vessel that carries blood high in oxygen content away from the heart to the farthest reaches of the body. Since blood in arteries is usually full of oxygen, the hemoglobin in the red blood cells is oxygenated. The resultant form of hemoglobin (oxyhemoglobin) is what makes arterial blood look bright red.
Arteries are part of the efferent wing of the circulatory system. (“Efferent” from the Latin “ex”, out + “ferre”, to bear = to bear out or carry away. What the arteries are carrying away is blood from the heart.)
By contrast, a vein is a blood vessel that carries blood low in oxygen content from the body back to the heart. The deoxygenated form of hemoglobin (deoxyhemoglobin) in venous blood makes it appear dark. Veins are part of the afferent wing of the circulatory system which returns blood to the heart.
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Artery spasm, coronary: A sudden constriction of a coronary artery that deprives the heart muscle of blood and oxygen. This can cause a type of sudden chest pain referred to as variant angina or Prinzmetal angina. Coronary artery spasm can be triggered by emotional stress, medicines, street drugs (particularly cocaine), and exposure to extreme cold. […]
- Artery, central retinal
Artery, central retinal: The blood vessel that carries blood into the eye and supplies nutrition to the retina. The counterpart to the central retinal artery is the central retinal vein, the vessel that carries blood away from the retina.
- Artery, hepatic
Artery, hepatic: An artery that distributes blood to the liver, pancreas and gallbladder as well as to the stomach and duodenal portion of the small intestine.
- Artery, mesenteric
Artery, mesenteric: One of the arteries that arises from the abdominal portion of the aorta and distributes blood to most of the intestines.
- Artery, ophthalmic
Artery, ophthalmic: The ophthalmic artery supplies blood to the eye and adjacent structures of face. It arises from the internal carotid artery that courses up deep within the front of the neck.