Artery
An artery (plural arteries) (from Greek ἀρτηρία (artēríā) 'windpipe, artery')[1] is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pulmonary and the umbilical arteries, which carry deoxygenated blood to the organs that oxygenate it (lungs and placenta, respectively). The effective arterial blood volume is that extracellular fluid which fills the arterial system.
| Artery | |
|---|---|
 Diagram of an artery | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | Arteria (plural: arteriae) |
| MeSH | D001158 |
| TA98 | A12.0.00.003 A12.2.00.001 |
| TA2 | 3896 |
| FMA | 50720 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
The arteries are part of the circulatory system, that is responsible for the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to all cells, as well as the removal of carbon dioxide and waste products, the maintenance of optimum blood pH, and the circulation of proteins and cells of the immune system.
Arteries contrast with veins, which carry blood back towards the heart.