Anatomy Guide › Thorax
Subclavian Artery
Every artery in your arm — down to the vessels flushing your fingertips pink — begins as the subclavian artery. True to its name (sub, under; clavia, collarbone), it passes beneath the clavicle on each side, arching over the dome of the lung before diving toward the armpit. On the right it branches from a short trunk off the aortic arch; on the left it springs from the arch directly. It is a naming curiosity of anatomy that this one vessel changes names twice without branching: subclavian under the collarbone, axillary through the armpit, brachial down the upper arm.
Before it ever reaches the arm, the subclavian gives off branches with outsized importance. The vertebral artery climbs through the neck vertebrae to help supply the brain — part of the reason sudden subclavian blockage can produce neurological symptoms. Other branches feed the thyroid gland, the chest wall, and the muscles of the shoulder blade.
The artery crosses a narrow gap between the collarbone and first rib alongside the nerves of the brachial plexus. In some people that corridor is tight enough to pinch vessel or nerves — thoracic outlet syndrome — producing arm pain, numbness, or a hand that tires with overhead work. Clinicians also compress the subclavian against the first rib as an emergency measure to slow severe arm bleeding.
In Anamo, the subclavian artery is a connector piece: it links the thorax map to the upper-limb map. A hot subclavian guess tells you the answer lives at the base of the neck or shoulder; a warm one radiating from the arm suggests you should follow the vessel downstream to axillary and brachial territory.
- Supplies every artery of the arm, becoming axillary then brachial artery
- Gives off the vertebral artery, which helps supply the brain
- Arches over the dome of the lung beneath the collarbone
- Can be pinched with nerves in thoracic outlet syndrome
Think you could find the subclavian artery on a 3D model? Play Anamo and test yourself — every guess is color-coded by how close it lands to the mystery structure.