WordNet
n. the descending part of the aorta that branches into the thoracic and abdominal aortae
Wikipedia
The descending aorta is part of the aorta, the largest artery in the body. The descending aorta is the part of the aorta beginning at the aortic arch that runs down through the chest and abdomen. The descending aorta anatomically consists of two portions or segments, the thoracic and the abdominal aorta, in correspondence with the two great cavities of the trunk in which it is situated. Within the abdomen, the descending aorta branches into the two common iliac arteries which serve the pelvis and eventually legs.
The ligamentum arteriosum connects to the junction between the arch of aorta and the descending aorta in foetal life. This artery later regresses as the ductus arteriosus.
Usage examples of "descending aorta".
A ductus arteriosus was observed to communicate between the pulmonary artery and the descending aorta.
This ductus opened into the descending aorta just below the origin of the left subclavian artery.
It tore a ragged entry into the soft flesh at the juncture of her slightly spread thighs and plunged upwards through her lower abdomen, striking and shattering the thick bony girdle of her pelvis, glancing off the bone with still enough impetus to bruise and weaken the lower branch of the descending aorta, the great artery that runs down from the heart, before going on to embed itself in the muscles high in the left side of her back.