Elastic artery
Encyclopedia
An elastic artery is an artery
Artery
Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. This blood is normally oxygenated, exceptions made for the pulmonary and umbilical arteries....

 with a large number of collagen
Collagen
Collagen is a group of naturally occurring proteins found in animals, especially in the flesh and connective tissues of mammals. It is the main component of connective tissue, and is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content...

 and elastin
Elastin
Elastin is a protein in connective tissue that is elastic and allows many tissues in the body to resume their shape after stretching or contracting. Elastin helps skin to return to its original position when it is poked or pinched. Elastin is also an important load-bearing tissue in the bodies of...

 filaments in the tunica media
Tunica media
The tunica media is the middle layer of an artery or vein.-Artery:It is made up of smooth muscle cells and elastic tissue...

, which gives it the ability to stretch in response to each pulse. This elasticity also gives rise to the Windkessel effect
Windkessel effect
Windkessel effect is a term used in medicine to account for the shape of the arterial pressure waveform in terms of the interaction between the stroke volume and the compliance of the aorta and large elastic arteries . Windkessel in German literally means 'air chamber', but is generally taken to...

, which helps to maintain a relatively constant pressure in the arteries despite the pulsating nature of the blood flow. Elastic arteries include the largest arteries in the body, those closest to the heart. They give rise to medium-sized vessels known as distributing arteries (or muscular arteries).

The pulmonary arteries, the aorta
Aorta
The aorta is the largest artery in the body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it branches off into two smaller arteries...

, and its branches together comprise the body's system of elastic arteries.
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