Left Gastric Artery
The structure indicated is the
left gastric artery.
The left gastric artery is one of three branches of the
celiac trunk. The celiac trunk is the
first anterior branch that arises from the abdominal aorta. The abdominal aorta consists of anterior, posterior, and lateral branches. There are
three anterior branches which supply the foregut, midgut and hindgut structures these are as follows:
- Celiac trunk – supplies foregut
- Superior mesenteric artery – supplies midgut
- Inferior mesenteric artery – supplies hindgut
The celiac trunk arises from the
abdominal aorta at the level of the upper part of the first lumbar vertebra. It gives rises to
three branches:
- Common hepatic artery
- Left gastric artery
- Splenic artery
The left gastric artery is the
smallest branch of the celiac trunk (the splenic artery is the largest. The left gastric artery first ascends upwards, giving off
oesophageal branches which supply the lower oesophagus – branches from the thoracic aorta may descend to anastomse with these branches. The Left gastric artery then curves along the superior border of the
lesser curvature of the stomach to anastomose with the
right gastric artery. The right gastric artery arises most commonly from the
proper hepatic artery, which is a branch of the
common hepatic artery (the right gastric artery may also arise more proximally, from the common hepatic artery itself).
Learn more about the anatomy of the
celiac trunk in this tutorial
