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The vasa vasorum of the aorta (400X)

Microimage
The aorta. Image copyright: University of Oslo, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

The external elastic lamina (lat: lamina elastica externa) is defined as the outermost elastic membrane of the tunica media.

The tunica adventitia consists of connective tissue that mostly contains collagen fibers. You can also find small blood vessels (vasa vasorum) and lymphatic vessels and adipose cells in this area.

The function of the vasa vasorum are small arteries that supply the outer part of the wall in the larger arteries with capillaries.

Published March 26th 2023, updated October 20th 2023.