Facial Artery
The structure indicated is the
facial artery. The facial artery is a branch of the
external carotid artery. The external carotid artery gives rise to
8 branches:
- Superior thyroid artery
- Ascending pharyngeal artery
- Lingual artery
- Facial artery
- Occipital artery
- Posterior auricular artery
- Maxillary artery
- Superficial temporal artery
The
maxillary artery and the
superficial temporal artery are terminal branches of the external carotid artery, with the latter being the smaller of the two branches. The facial artery provides the major arterial supply to the face, terminating as the angular artery medially at the corner of the eye. It consists of both cervical and facial branches.
Cervical branches:
- Ascending palatine artery
- Tonsillar branch
- Submental artery
- Glandular branches
Facial branches:
- Inferior labial artery
- Superior labial artery
- Lateral nasal branch to naslis muscle
- Angular artery
Learn more about the branches of the
external carotid artery in this anatomy tutorial.
