Artery

• The intima of this small artery is visible only as a "dotted line" of nuclei of endothelial cells, exactly at the edge of the arterial lumen.  These nuclei look round rather than flat because post-mortem contraction of smooth muscle in the media has caused longitudinal wrinkles in the endothelium.
• The internal elastic lamina is inconspicuous.
• The media is the thickest, most conspicuous layer, in which nuclei of individual smooth muscle fibers are clearly visible. 
• The adventitia is not a distinct layer but merges with surrounding connective tissue.

Comments and questions: dgking@siu.edu

SIUC / School of Medicine / Anatomy / David King

https://histology.siu.edu/crr/CR046b.htm
Last updated:  22 May 2022 / dgk