A probationary essay on the arch of the aorta, and great bloodvessels arising from it : submitted, ... to the examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, ... / by William Fergusson.

  • Fergusson, William, Sir, 1808-1877.
Date:
September 1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A probationary essay on the arch of the aorta, and great bloodvessels arising from it : submitted, ... to the examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, ... / by William Fergusson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/38 (page 11)
    taken from a man who fell upon a spike, which en¬ tered at the root of the neck, and wounded the Aorta, even within the pericardium. The descending portion runs nearly parallel with the vertebral column, as it will be remembered that here the third and fourth uppermost dorsal verte¬ brae incline backwards, in order to enlarge the cavity of the thorax. The artery, however, gra¬ dually passes nearer to the spine, and generally gets close upon the left side of the body of the third dtfrsal vertebra, after which it receives the name of the Thoracic Aorta although the term may be ap¬ plied with equal propriety to that part which we have been describing. Having thus pointed out the situation and course of the arch of the Aorta, in what may be considered its natural state, I shall now proceed to mention the origin and course of the three great bloodvessels which arise from it. The Coronary arteries of the heart are sometimes described as arising from the arch of the Aorta, but, as these vessels do not come under the scope of this paper, I shall not speak of them further. * Might not this part of the vessel be called the Mediastinal Aorta ?