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Superior intercostal artery: anatomy, location and function

An artery supplying the first two intercostal spaces. It supplies the first and second intercostal spaces.

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Highlighted in the model: Superior 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.

Superior intercostal artery at a glance

What it is
An artery supplying the first two intercostal spaces.
Location
It arises from the costocervical trunk of the subclavian artery and descends in front of the neck of the first two ribs, giving the first and second posterior intercostal arteries.
Function
It supplies the first and second intercostal spaces.
Body system
Cardiovascular · paired (left and right)
FMA ID
FMA5042 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Structures next to the superior intercostal artery

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

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Superior intercostal artery (FMA5042). 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.