Cardiac branches of the vagus nerve

The cardiac branches of the vagus nerve are two sets of nerves found in the upper torso, in close proximity to the larynx. The specific branches are the cervical cardiac branches of vagus nerve and the thoracic cardiac branches of vagus nerve.

The cervical cardiac branches (sometimes ambiguously called superior cardiac branches) of vagus nerve, two or three in number, arise from the vagus, at the upper and lower parts of the neck.

• The upper branches are small, and communicate with the cardiac branches of the sympathetic. They can be traced to the deep part of the cardiac plexus.
• The lower branch arises at the root of the neck, just above the first rib. That from the right vagus passes in front or by the side of the innominate artery, and proceeds to the deep part of the cardiac plexus; that from the left runs down across the left side of the aortic arch, and joins the superficial part of the cardiac plexus.

The thoracic cardiac branches (sometimes ambiguously called inferior cardiac branches) of vagus nerve, on the right side, arise from the trunk of the vagus as it lies by the side of the trachea, and from its recurrent nerve; on the left side from the recurrent nerve only; passing inward, they end in the deep part of the cardiac plexus.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)