Medial circumflex femoral artery

Medial circumflex femoral artery
The profunda femoris artery, femoral artery and their major branches - right thigh, anterior view. Circumflex femoral arteries labeled.
Details
Source	deep femoral artery, femoral artery
Supplies	thigh
Identifiers
Latin	arteria circumflexa femoris medialis
TA98	A12.2.16.021
TA2	4686
FMA	20799
Anatomical terminology

The medial circumflex femoral artery (internal circumflex artery, medial femoral circumflex artery) is an artery in the upper thigh that helps supply blood to the neck of the femur. Damage to the artery following a femoral neck fracture may lead to avascular necrosis (ischemic) of the femoral neck/head.

Structure

The medial femoral circumflex artery arises from the medial and posterior aspect of the profunda femoris artery, and winds around the medial side of the femur, passing first between the pectineus and iliopsoas muscles, and then between the obturator externus and the adductor brevis muscles.

The medial femoral circumflex artery may occasionally arise directly from the femoral artery.

Branches

At the upper border of the adductor brevis it gives off two branches:

• The ascending branch
• The descending branch descends beneath the adductor brevis, to supply it and the adductor magnus; the continuation of the vessel passes backward and divides into superficial, deep, and acetabular branches.
  • The superficial branch
  • The deep branch
  • The acetabular branch

See also

• Lateral femoral circumflex artery

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 630 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

Additional Images

• 
  Medial circumflex femoral artery

External links

• Medial femoral circumflex artery at the Duke University Health System's Orthopedics program
• Anatomy figure: 12:04-06 at Human Anatomy Online, SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "Arteries of the lower extremity shown in association with major landmarks."