End artery End artery An end artery (or terminal artery) is an artery that is the only supply of oxygenated blood to a portion of tissue. Arteries which do not anastomose with their neighbors are called end arteries. There is no collateral circulation present besides the end arteries. Examples of an end artery include the splenic artery that supplies the spleen and the renal artery that supplies the kidneys. End arteries are of particular interest to medicine where they supply the heart or brain because if the arteries are occluded, the tissue is completely cut off, leading to a myocardial infarction or
Splenic artery Splenic artery The splenic artery (in the past called the lienal artery) is the blood vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to the spleen. It branches from the celiac artery, and follows a course superior to the pancreas. The splenic artery gives off branches to the stomach and pancreas before reaching the spleen. Note that the branches of the splenic artery do not reach all the way to the lower part of the greater curvature of the stomach. Instead, that region is supplied by the right gastroepiploic artery, a branch of the gastroduodenal artery. The two gastroepiploic arteries anastomose with each