Ascending aorta

Aorta ascendens

CardiovascularBlood vesselsThorax

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What it is

The first ~5 cm of the aorta, rising from the aortic valve behind the sternum upward, forward and to the right inside the pericardial sac. Its root bulges into three aortic sinuses, from which the coronary arteries arise.

Function

Carries the entire output of the left ventricle (~5 L/min at rest) towards the arch.

Size

~5 cm long; 2.5–3.5 cm diameter (root up to ~3.7 cm).

Clinical note

Commonest site of thoracic aortic aneurysm and of type A aortic dissection, a surgical emergency.