Elastic artery
An elastic artery is an artery with many collagen and elastin filaments in the tunica media, which gives it the ability to stretch in response to each pulse. This elasticity also gives rise to the Windkessel effect, 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.
The pulmonary arteries, the aorta, and its branches together comprise the body's system of elastic arteries. Other examples include the brachiocephalic artery, common carotid arteries, subclavian artery, and common iliac artery.
Structure
The most prominent feature of elastic arteries is the very thick tunica media in which elastic lamellae alternate with layers of smooth muscle fibers. The adult aorta has about 50 elastic lamellae.The tunica intima is well developed, with many smooth muscle cells in the subendothelial connective tissue, and often shows folds in cross section because of the vessel’s contraction with loss of blood pressure at death. Between the intima and the media lies the internal elastic lamina, usually better defined than the elastic laminae of the media. The relatively thin adventitia contains vasa vasorum, which also supply elastic arteries, unlike smaller blood vessels, which are supplied by diffusion.