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First posterior intercostal artery: anatomy, location and function

The first posterior intercostal artery supplies the first intercostal space. It supplies the first intercostal space and the neighbouring chest wall.

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Highlighted in the model: First posterior intercostal artery. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The model is an adult male.

First posterior intercostal artery at a glance

What it is
The first posterior intercostal artery supplies the first intercostal space.
Location
It arises from the supreme intercostal artery, a branch of the costocervical trunk, and runs in the first intercostal space.
Function
It supplies the first intercostal space and the neighbouring chest wall.
Body system
Cardiovascular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA66242 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • The first two posterior intercostal arteries come from the supreme intercostal artery.

Structures next to the first posterior intercostal artery

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: First posterior intercostal artery (FMA66242). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §20.1 Structure and Function of Blood Vessels. Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.