Lateral thoracic artery
large blood vessel
In the human body, the lateral thoracic artery (or external mammary artery) is a blood vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to approximately one-third of the lateral structures of the thorax and breast.
It originates from the axillary artery and follows the lower border of the pectoralis minor muscle to the side of the chest to supply the serratus anterior muscle, pectoralis major muscle and pectoralis minor muscle, and sends branches across the axilla to the axillary lymph nodes and subscapularis muscle.
It anastomoses with the internal thoracic artery, subscapular, and intercostal arteries, and with the pectoral branch of the thoracoacromial artery.
In the female it supplies an external mammary branch which turns round the free edge of the pectoralis major and supplies the breasts.
Variations
Variations in the Axillary Artery are quite common.
Differences in its origin, course, branching pattern, and size may cause variations in the number or arrangement of branches arising from the artery. Additionally, anatomical variations such as accessory or duplicated lateral thoracic arteries have been reported in medical literature. These variations can impact surgical procedures and diagnostic imaging interpretations.
In case it is absent the lateral perforating branches of Intercostal arteries take its place.
References
This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 588 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918) and Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice, International Edition(2016).
“Lateral thoracic artery” enters the record as large blood vessel. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lateral, thoracic and artery can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Lateral thoracic artery” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Lateral, thoracic and artery provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 8, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q707624. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1918 and 2016.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lateral thoracic artery”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lateral thoracic artery primary sources, Lateral thoracic artery archive and Lateral research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lateral thoracic artery”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lateral thoracic artery” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.