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.

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    Before pointing out the peculiar origin and dis¬ tribution of the great arteries arising from the arch of the Aorta, which, from their particular course, and relative situation, demand the attention of Surgeons, and in order that we may understand the seat, na¬ ture, and external appearance, of the disease to which the following paper in part relates, I shall first describe the natural origin and disposition of this great bloodvessel, and of the important arteries that arise from it. The Aorta takes its origin from the base of the left ventricle of the heart, a little towards its right side, by an orifice wrhich, in the healthy adult sub¬ ject, is generally about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. The artery, in the first part of its course, passes almost directly upwards, inclining slightly to¬ wards the right side; it continues in this course for the distance of more than two inches, and then it suddenly changes its direction, passes backwards and towards the left side in a horizontal course, and running thus for the distance of nearly two inches, it again quickly alters its direction, and, still pass¬ ing more towards the left side, dives downwards and backwards, and ultimately gets close upon the left side of the vertebral column.