Esophageal artery

Looks like

Several small arteries leaving the front of the chest aorta and running into the gullet wall.

What it does

Supply the middle part of the oesophagus, joining vessels from the neck above and the stomach below.

Keeping it well

Can bleed in oesophageal tears or tumours; its thin supply matters in gullet surgery healing.

Related conditions

• Aortic aneurysm
• Aortic dissection
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Kawasaki disease
• Marfan syndrome & connective tissue disorders
• Metabolic syndrome
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Pre-eclampsia
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sepsis
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Takayasu arteritis
• Turner syndrome
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)