Age features of the arteries

After the birth of the child as the age increases, the circumference, diameter, thickness of the artery walls and their length increase. The level of the branching of arterial branches from the main arteries and even the type of their branching is also changing. The diameter of the left coronary artery is greater than the diameter of the right coronary artery in people of all age groups. The most significant differences in the diameter of these arteries are observed in newborns and children 10-14 years old. In people older than 75 years, the diameter of the right coronary artery is slightly larger than the diameter of the left. In children of early age, the diameter of the common carotid artery is 3-6 mm, and in adults it is 9-14 mm. The diameter of the subclavian artery is most intensively increased from the moment of the birth of the child to 4 years. In the first 10 years of life, the largest diameter of all cerebral arteries is average. In early childhood, the arteries of the intestine are almost all of the same diameter. The difference between the diameter of the main arteries and the diameter of their branches of the second and third orders is initially small, but as the age of the child increases, this difference also increases. The diameter of the main arteries grows faster than the diameter of their branches. During the first 5 years of life, the diameter of the ulnar artery increases more intensively than the radial artery, but in the future the diameter of the radial artery prevails. The circumference of the arteries also increases. So, the circumference of the ascending aorta in newborns is 17-23 mm, in 4 years - 39 mm, in 15 years - 49 mm, in adults - 60 mm. The thickness of the walls of the ascending aorta grows very intensively to 13 years, and the common carotid artery stabilizes after 7 years. The area of the lumen of the ascending aorta is also intensively increasing from 23 mm ² in newborns to 107.2 mm ² in 12-year-olds, which is consistent with an increase in heart size and cardiac output. The length of the arteries increases in proportion to the growth of the body and limbs. For example, the length of the descending part of the aorta by the age of 50 increases by almost 4 times, with the length of the thoracic aorta growing faster than the abdominal. Arteries, blood supply to the brain, most intensively develop to 3-4 years of age, in growth rates exceeding other vessels. The anterior cerebral artery grows most rapidly. With age, the arteries, blood supplying the internal organs, and the arteries of the upper and lower extremities also lengthen. Thus, in the newborns and infants, the inferior mesenteric artery has a length of 5-6 cm, and in adults 16-17 cm.

The level of branches from the main arteries in newborns and children, as a rule, is located more proximally, and the angles under which these vessels go are greater in children than in adults. The radius of curvature of the arcs formed by the vessels also changes. For example, in newborns and children under 12, the aortic arch has a greater radius of curvature than in adults.

Proportional growth of the body and limbs and, accordingly, an increase in the length of their arteries, a partial change in the topography of these vessels occurs. The older the person, the lower the aortic arch is. In newborns, the aortic arch is above level I of the thoracic vertebra, at 17-20 years - at level II, at 25-30 years - at level III, at 40-45 years - at the height of IV thoracic vertebra, and in elderly and old people - at the level of the intervertebral disc between the IV and V thoracic vertebrae. The topography of the arteries of the limb is also changing. For example, in a newborn, the projection of the ulnar artery corresponds to the anterior medial edge of the ulna and the radial artery to the anterior medial margin of the radial bone. With age, the ulnar and radial arteries move relative to the median line of the forearm in the lateral direction. In children older than 10 years, these arteries are located and projected in the same way as in adults. The projection of the femoral and popliteal arteries in the first years of the child's life also shifts laterally from the midline of the femur, with the projection of the femoral artery approaching the medial edge of the femur, and the projection of the popliteal artery to the median line of the popliteal fossa. There is a change in the topography of the palmar arcs. The superficial palmar arc in newborns and young children is located proximal to the middle of II and III metacarpal bones. In adults, this arc is projected at the midpoint of the third metacarpal bone.

As the age increases, there is also a change in the type of branching of the arteries. Thus, in a newborn the type of branching of the coronary arteries is placer, by 6-10 years the main type is formed, which persists throughout the life of a person.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11]