The aorta is the main artery of the body passing blood from the heart to peripheral tissues. All other arteries ramify from the aorta. Histologically, it is an elastic artery and its elasticitity allows it to store the kinetic energy of the blood and so modify the systolic pulse wave.
It originates from the left ventricle of the heart at the site of the aortic valve. It terminates at the division into right and left common iliac arteries within the abdomen. Between these areas, the aorta can be divided into continuous sections:
The plural for more than one aorta is aortae. The adjective for items pertaining to the aorta is aortic.
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