mammary artery

Main Entry: thoracic artery
Function: noun
: either of two arteries that branch from the axillary artery or from one of its branches: a : a small arterythat usually arises from the axillary artery below the clavicle and that supplies or sends branches to the two pectoralis muscles and the walls of the chest called also supreme thoracic artery b : an artery that often arises from the thoracoacromial artery or from the subscapular artery rather than the axillary artery and that supplies both pectoralis muscles and the serratusanterior and sends branches to the lymph nodes of the axilla and to the subscapularis muscle called also lateral thoracic artery; —compare INTERNAL THORACIC ARTERY

thoracic artery n.

1. The internal mammary artery, with origin in the subclavian artery and bifurcations to the musculophrenic and superior epigastric arteries; internal thoracic artery.

2. The external mammary artery, with origin in the axillary artery and distribution to the muscles of the chest and mammary gland; lateral thoracic artery.

3. An artery with origin in the axillary artery, with distribution to the muscles of the chest, and with anastomoses to the branches of the suprascapular, internal thoracic, and thoracoacromial arteries; superior thoracic artery.