Posterior intercostal arteries

Looks like

Paired arteries running along the lower edge of each rib from the back; the lower nine pairs come straight from the aorta.

What it does

Supply the chest wall muscles, ribs, skin, spinal cord and spine.

Keeping it well

Needles for draining the chest go above a rib to avoid them. Broken ribs can tear them and bleed into the chest.

Related conditions

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Hypothermia & frostbite
• Kawasaki disease
• Metabolic syndrome
• Orthostatic hypotension & POTS
• Peripheral artery disease
• Phaeochromocytoma & hyperaldosteronism
• Pleural effusion
• Pneumothorax
• Pre-eclampsia
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Sepsis
• Shock (circulatory failure)
• Vasculitis (GCA & others)