MH 063 Carotid Artery and Brachiocephalic Vein

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Elastic Artery & Large Vein

The walls of blood vessels are composed of three layers (or tunics).

(Carotid Artery) - convey blood from the heart to systemic and pulmonary circulations. The tunica media is the thickest layer and contains prominent elastic tissue.
- - inner layer composed of the endothelium, subendothelial connective tissue, and a thin layer of elastic fibrils (the internal elastic membrane).
- - middle layer composed of of circumferentially arranged smooth muscle (bluish-pink) and wavy sheets of elastic tissue (unstained or light pink).
- - outer layer of dense irregular connective tissue containing loosely organized collagen fibers.
(Brachiocephalic Vein) - have thinner walls than arteries with less distinct layers. The tunica adventitia is the thickest of the three layers.
- - inner layer composed of endothelium and a thin layer of collagen fibrils
- - middle layer of only a few (3 to 8) layers of smooth muscle.
- - outer layer of dense irregular connective tissue containing mostly longitudinal or spiral arrangements of smooth muscle and collagen fibers.
  - - blood vessels that supply the tunica adventitia and tunica media.